Post-Standard layoffs

[SUinNYC]

Saw a tweet this morning about layoffs today at the Post-Standard and Syracuse.com.

Anyone hear anything? I hope it's a just a rumor that is untrue.

 

[CiceroSwamp]

No idea...but layoffs were definitely going to happen with newspaper going to 3 day weeks. Its sad but it mirrors the newspaper business in general

 

[shandeezy7]

Yep, they are notifying all employees whether they will be retained or will be receiving a severance package.

 

[690West]

Yeah, some people have already been told this morning. Poliquin just said his meeting is at 4:00pm today

 

[CuseLegacy]

The Post-Standard and Syracuse.com will take another step on Monday to form two new companies well positioned for the digital age.
In an announcement to employees this morning, Editor and Publisher Stephen A. Rogers said senior managers will talk to employees individually on Monday about whether they will be offered a new position in one of the new companies or whether they will be offered a severance package.
Employees will be offered jobs either with the Syracuse Media Group – the company which will publish The Post-Standard and operate Syracuse.com – or with Advance Central Services Syracuse, the company created to provide various support services to Syracuse Media Group.
The new companies and their digital focus require new skills and in many instances new employees with those skills. The companies will be hiring for about 60 new positions over the next few months. Those jobs will be advertised on Syracuse.com by the end of next week. Current employees who are not receiving job offers to join the Syracuse Media Group or Advance Central Services Syracuse will have the opportunity to apply for these openings.
Tim Kennedy, President of Syracuse Media Group, and Paul Thomas, general manager of Advance Central Services Syracuse, said most employees who will lose jobs will be asked to stay on until Jan. 31.
“While I am very excited about our prospects for great success in the future, it is very difficult to say goodbye to the friends and colleagues with whom I worked closely for many years,” said Rogers.
“Importantly, the new company will have as many reporters and salespeople as currently are employed at The Post-Standard,” Kennedy said. “Our goal is to increase our ability to serve our advertising customers and continue to provide Central New York with quality news and information."

 

[OttoMets]

The Post-Standard and Syracuse.com will take another step on Monday to form two new companies well positioned for the digital age.
In an announcement to employees this morning, Editor and Publisher Stephen A. Rogers said senior managers will talk to employees individually on Monday about whether they will be offered a new position in one of the new companies or whether they will be offered a severance package.
Employees will be offered jobs either with the Syracuse Media Group – the company which will publish The Post-Standard and operate Syracuse.com – or with Advance Central Services Syracuse, the company created to provide various support services to Syracuse Media Group.
The new companies and their digital focus require new skills and in many instances new employees with those skills. ..

I wonder if "ability to capably write English sentences" is one of the new skills being sought.

I feel bad for people who are losing their jobs. But a great number of the Post-Standard employees who are published every day (or, if I worked for the Post-Standard, "everyday") are poor writers. And I imagine this new digital focus is going to exacerbate the problem.

What's happened to this industry is a shame. Some of their problems of been self-induced, but that hardly seems to matter. In the end, we're left without something that once enhanced our quality of life. Here's hoping the Post-Standard rights the ship and hires some educated people who are avid readers and actually value the written word.

 

[Whitey23]

The Times-Picayune in New Orleans switched to 3 days a week today and PennLive also having layoffs today. All owned by Advance Digital so i'm assuming it's the same for all their media holdings:

al.com
cleveland.com
gulflive.com
lehighvalleylive.com
MassLive.com
MLive.com
NJ.com
NOLA.com
OregonLive.com
PennLive.com
SILive.com
syracuse.com

 

[Upstate]

Michael Benny ‏@MichaelBenny
Longtime #Syracuse Post Standard columnist Dick Case among those let go. One worker says 110 total layoffs at the paper.

 

[shandeezy7]

Michael Benny ‏@MichaelBenny
Longtime #Syracuse Post Standard columnist Dick Case among those let go. One worker says 110 total layoffs at the paper.

That's unfortunate. Dick Case has always written some interesting stories about the history of Syracuse.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Hoping Sean Kirst, Donna Ditota etc are still there at the end of the day. Very sad. It's scary to think that some of the PS guys who were kind enough to host question/answer chats on this board could be gone.

I really enjoy reading the local news in newspaper form but I'm not surprised that the internet version has hastened it's demise. Some of the recent bloggers who they have reporting the news on Syracuse.com have been brutal with basic grammar mistakes etc. Feel so badly for these people and their families in these tough times.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

I'm surprised and saddened that Dick Case is one of those getting pink-slipped. I haven'e lived in Syracuse in more than 30 years and he was already well established at the paper back then. A lot of institutional memory as well as historical perspective is being lost with his departure.

 

[Jake]

My biggest concerns are rahme, waters, ditota, Webb and Nolan. Very selfish reasons. My guess is nearly all survive, sports is one aspect that still drives sales locally and translates well to an online product. Kiss the business section and many niche columnists goodbye.

 

[longtimefan]

The companies will be hiring for about 60 new positions over the next few months. Those jobs will be advertised on Syracuse.com by the end of next week. Current employees who are not receiving job offers to join the Syracuse Media Group or Advance Central Services Syracuse will have the opportunity to apply for these openings.

So they lay off long-time employees (who have advanced in salary, and accumulated decent fringe benefits), and now offer them back similar, if not identical, jobs, at a lower salary rate and sans benefits. I've seen this dance before.

 

[690West]

So they lay off long-time employees (who have advanced in salary, and accumulated decent fringe benefits), and now offer them back similar, if not identical, jobs, at a lower salary rate and sans benefits. I've seen this dance before.

Yup. Supply and demand can be a bitch

 

[longtimefan]

Yup. Supply and demand can be a bitch

But, that's not the only Law in the market place.

 

[690West]

But, that's not the only Law in the market place.

Unfortunately you're probably correct

 

[SWC75]

I always thought giving content away on the same day on the internet was a poor business model. The internet should have been a archive or previously published material, not a competitor to their own product.

 

[upperdeck]

they interviewed a bunch of syracuse people and asked where they get their news.. they said google, cnn.com, twitter, the internet..

people want everything for free, they dont pay attention to local news but then get upset when they cant find out what happens locally that effects them.

when the local paper free stuff goes away, where will people get any local information? all that is left is the 5-6 stories the TV side does.

can espn produce the sports new for every little town?

 

[qdawgg]

I awlays thought giving content away on the same day on the itnernet wa sapoor business model. The internet should have been a archive or previously published material, not a competitor to their own product.

Problem is they weren't competing with just themselves. At some point 1 newspaper offers current content online and it forces everyone else to do it to stay current. This was just a matter of killing yourself slowly instead of quickly.

 

[690West]

they interviewed a bunch of syracuse people and asked where they get their news.. they said google, cnn.com, twitter, the internet..

people want everything for free, they dont pay attention to local news but then get upset when they cant find out what happens locally that effects them.

when the local paper free stuff goes away, where will people get any local information? all that is left is the 5-6 stories the TV side does.

can espn produce the sports new for every little town?

I'd pay $10 a month for good Syracuse.com content. I wonder if anyone would be with me though with that price point

 

[MadNY3]

I awlays thought giving content away on the same day on the itnernet wa sapoor business model. The internet should have been a archive or previously published material, not a competitor to their own product.

Advertising ahs always been the biggest revenue driver. Newsstand sales and delivery more of less subsidize the delivery costs.

 

[bevosu]

Talking about local news, is it just me or did the 12 o'clock midday TV news on Channel 3 bite the dust? I don't think it was on today...some kind of Hollywood gossip show was on.

Was that an anomaly or did they can that local news broadcast? Noon day local news on Channel 3 has been on forever.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Talking about local news, is it just me or did the 12 o'clock midday TV news on Channel 3 bite the dust? I don't think it was on today...some kind of Hollywood gossip show was on.

Was that an anomaly or did they can that local news broadcast? Noon day local news on Channel 3 has been on forever.

Noon news on 3 has been replaced with a 4 AM broadcast.

 

[690West]

Noon day local news on Channel 3 has been on forever.

Yup. Interesting nugget. Laura Hand's first broadcast ever was the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor!

 

[MadNY3]

This chart shows the state of the newspaper industry. Self-explanatory and it is NOT segragted to Syracuse, NY.