Democracy Has Prevailed.

December 14, 2008

Post-Gazette Buyout Update

From our friends at the Trib:

About two dozen newsroom employees at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette accepted buyouts on Friday from the newspaper, which floated the offer to cut costs.

Had fewer than 18 agreed to forfeit their jobs, management might have resorted to layoffs, a union official said.

The Post-Gazette offered to buy out about half the employees in its 200-person newsroom in mid-October. Workers who accept will receive one year of salary and one year of health care coverage, plus an option to buy two more years' coverage. Eligible are those whose age plus years of P-G service equal 70 or more.

The P-G has a shorter blurb that says roughly the same thing:
Twenty-three newsroom employees of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette accepted a voluntary severance package offered by the company as a cost-cutting move. The buyouts were offered in October to about 100 members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, the union that represents about 200 writers, editors, photographers, artists and other newsroom personnel. Some of those who took buyouts may continue to do freelance work for the newspaper. "We are saying goodbye to some of our colleagues and friends, but we are also taking inspiration from them," said David Shribman, executive editor.
No word yet on who those 23 are.

Update: Smizik took the buyout.

10 comments:

John K. said...

John K: The real thoughts are that if liberalism is selling so well, then why isn't this paper, along with other liberal papers, NY Times, ect expanding. Conservative Talk Radio is doing just fine. (Limbaugh Rules!) They lefty newspapers aren't because like KDKA they have lost all credibility. Sort of like you Dayvoe.

Dayvoe said...

Giggle.

Limbaugh rules.

That's funny.

EdHeath said...

So isn't that comparing alpples to oranges. One guy per radio show (with a small crew) versus a whle newspaper operation, JOhn K? Of course, why go with a sensible explanation when the mean an vicious answer will suffice. oh yeah, and http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2008/12/05/2008-12-05_bill_oreilly_is_really_quitting_radio_gi.html

Anonymous said...

Bob Smizik is one of those taking the buyout. His "farewell" column is in the paper, today.

The Chicago Tribune as a "lefty newspaper?" LOL!

John K. said...

John K: I thought you left wingers said Limbaugh et al were irrelevant. Looks like left wing newspapers are irrelevant. LOL LOL LMAO 15 hours a week Ed. 20 million listeners there Dayvoe. LOL

Anonymous said...

Rush rules John K.'s fantasies!

You know, Rush should hold a contest to select one of his listeners to accompany him on one of his sex tourism romps through the Caribbean.

And actually, John, all honest assessments of audience peg it at about 3 to 4 million. There simply are not 20 million unique listeners to his radio program. The number you cite is total listeners throughout the week - 4 million per day for five days, yadda yadda yadda. Most of these are repeat listeners.

It's such a small media market with no actual competition(conservatives don't actually believe in competition) that it's not surprising Rush does well.

As for the decline in the newspaper business model, John simply sounds like a fool unnecessarily interjecting politics into this discussion as it has absolutely nothing to with ideology and more to do with the emergence of new media, like the Internet.

Why purchase a subscription to a newspaper when you can read them for free online??? There are other issues as well that have resulted in the decline of the industry, but John K. just indicates what we know to be true about most conservatives - they're more interested in playing petty, partisan politics than actually engaging in genuine debate.

Funny thing is, if Rush's is so awesome and all-knowing, why have Americans completely rejected his brand of juvenile hate?

You can have Rush Limbaugh, John. I'll take a governing majority.

EdHeath said...

Once again, I repeat, apples to oranges. All it takes to produce the Limbaugh show is a few dollars for the crew and a bucket of oxycontin for Limbaugh. This compared to an entire print and web newspaper operation (basically what Jaywillie just said).

But I will agree, there is an audience for conservative talk radio. Since Limbaugh's audience is largely illiterate, they wouldn't be able to handle a newspaper. But radio is just their speed. Nothing too complicated for them, no long words to read.

John K. said...

John K: Yah like oxycontin matters to you. Hussein Obama used and sold crack cocaine to earn some spending money. LOL LOL LMAO Get real.

EdHeath said...

Obama has admitted cocaine use in high school, but said nothing about selling it. I don't believe crack cocaine was even around then. But then what should I expect from someone who gets his news from a drug addict.

Justin said...

Saw the news about Smizik. Good riddance to bad rubbish IMO.