Boston is in Romenesko’s sights today, as the Globe seeks to reduce union wages by 10 percent and the Herald prepares to lay off 160 employees, mainly press operators.
Discover more from Media Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I like how Romanesko writes that the Herald “buries” the news about its layoffs – despite the fact it has a long, separate piece by Purcell outlining the move – but doesn’t mention that the Globe does pretty much the same in its article. The Herald focused on the Globe’s proposed pay cuts, while the Globe focused on the Herald layoffs. Big surprise. In each piece, they tossed in a few grafs at the bottom about their own situations. If you’re going to call out the Herald for burying the news about itself, at least be fair and level the same criticism at the Globe.
An even more immediate concern at the Herald has to be: can they weather a 50% price increase next week? They’ve beefed up home delivery but still rely on single copy sales far more than the Globe. Will the Herald audience pay up when it costs 75¢?
anon makes an excellent and fair point. in fact the herald had a long web story about its cuts up all day online and the purcell note as well. the globe tried to hide its pay cut proposal but they get a pass. think about the globe pay cuts for a minute; they’ve been frozen for 3 years in salary while absorbing more health care costs. now the company there wants a pay cut too. that’s going backward in a hurry, folks.
One other quick observation. The Herald’s layoffs are part of a long-known business plan and really aren’t that big a deal. (Unless, of course, you’re one of the people who’s losing his job. I don’t mean to be insensitive.) Frankly, what the Globe is doing looks more like a panic move.
your read is quite right dan. the globe is publicly traded, its stock is a skunk, and the sulzbergers will be lucky to sell it for half what they paid the taylors. this is a pre-market move if ever i saw one — the globe is in a big mess. you are right too that the herald’s deal is part of a plan patrick purcell has laid out that aims at preserving the herald as an editorial and advertising entity that can basically break even every year and survive. not that anyone working at the herald is in great shape … but the press move is a sign of proactive thinking. It’s a horrible shame for the press men and others – they are amazing people who have fought like lions to keep the herald afloat.
Dan, big layoffs are almost never good, long term business plan or not. How many people are actually left in the newsroom? And how much farther can their circulation drop? Other newspapers have similar problems, but the Herald has a much smaller “base” to work with.
The Globe is more disappointing read than ever — they really lack signature columnists who have an insightful eye toward using the power of algnaue to correct a wrong or point out a right. The Irish lad gets very boring after a while, especially today’s column on Fleet Street hacks. Where is George Frazier when you need him.