A sad day, as 22 'downsized' colleagues leave the Journal
10:00 AM Fri, Sep 12, 2008 | Permalink
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Projo Subterranean Homepage NewsBottom-up journalism from the pros: News, tech and culture by Sheila Lennon |
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"...I realized that no one has placed a name or face or emotion on these traumatic events in our industry. I think that voice needs to be heard. What echoed in my mind was that the trauma could have been avoided. As I told my father, 'The best thing management did was to hire people like me and my colleagues. The worst thing they did was to not listen to them.'"
Photos by Sheila LennonProvidence Mayor David Cicilline, left, with political columnist M. Charles Bakst.
Library assistant Jennifer Hazard, left; with her is reporter Karen Ziner, who will remain.
Providence Phoenix publisher Steve Brown, left, chats with departing reporter Mark Arsenault.
Political reporter Scott MacKay.
And it's not over. Involuntary layoffs are yet to come. 6 CommentsLeave a comment |
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A sad day - shared across many newsrooms - memorialized with some sharp sense of the complexities in the final season of The Wire, and still not over.
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OH - Sheila,
How sad!
What will happen to them, to you and to the Journal? I did not see the list of the staff who are terminating. Where can I find that - please?
My Best to All OF YOU.
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I've been trying to reply, Pat, between speeches and cakes, public tears and more speeches. I keep deleting what I write.
So, just the facts for now:
-- The list of buyout-takers is not public.
-- The buyout was not offered to some departments, including the housekeeping staff and projo.com, where I work. But it affects all of us.
Thank you for feeling it too.
Tom, thanks for stopping by this wake.
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Crumb, I liked Mark Arsenault's articles.
What about Neil Downing? I have noticed that the number of MoneyLine columns has decreased markedly lately.
I still think there is a way for projo to make more money online than just from ads. I would definitely fork out for a pdf version of the actual paper. My old home town newspaper does that, and it is an entirely different experience from a website. The website has the strength of fast updates and interactivity, but it is too easy to miss articles on a web site.
I have wondered if the front page pdf that was around for awhile was a trial balloon for that. If so, I think it was a flawed test. One page really has no value.
Having been thru this years ago, a series of layoffs as a company floundered, I can say that there is life afterwards. These people are not, after all, dying. And there are jobs out there, although maybe not in the fields they prefer, and esp. it will be difficult for older people, because age discrimination is a reality.
A good reason to start early with saving and being frugal, so the loss of a job is not terrifying, if younger people are reading this.
Set up an email list, so you can all stay in touch. Or a yahoo group with gated membership.
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karen, no clue and really lame advice. pdf, email list and yahoo group? what year is it in your world?
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Sure, Mac. How many times have you been laid off? My personal count is 5.
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