The Times-Dispatch told 28 editorial staffers and31 non-newsroom employees Thursday that they were no longer needed and could leave immediately. Several of the laid-off workers had decades of experience, which likely means their salaries were higher than the younger reporters and might be one reason they were cut.
“This is a sad day for journalism and journalists in Richmond,” said Jeff South, a journalism professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“Some of their most prestigious writers – and writers who have institutional memory – are going to be gone.”
Several of the laid-off reporters covered stories the Richmond area.
The paper will also change the food section around some.
Media General, which owns the Times-Dispatch, is also cutting in Tampa, where it owns the Tampa Tribune. The company has closed down several magazines in Tampa, including Skirt. The Tampa Tribune competes for ad dollars with another daily newspaper in that market, the St. Petersburg Times. The Times-Dispatch has no such daily news competition.
“This is not a day I ever wanted to see come,” said Publisher Thomas A. Silvestri in a statement. “I thank each and every departing employee for their years of valued service that helped publish Richmond’s daily newspapers.”
For employees still at the company, the number of mandatory days off has gone up from 10 days to 13 days, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Like all media companies, Media General is trying to cut costs to keep up with plummeting revenue. The publishing and broadcasting company lost $85.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from a profit of $9.6 million the previous year. Several large newspaper chains have filed for bankruptcy or gone out of business in the past 60 days.
South said he doesn’t think the paper is in immediate danger of disappearing. “This paper has seen its audience as being very traditional. My guess is they will probably hold on to that newspaper reading audience while they gradually shift more attention to the web.”
Laid-off employees will get a severance of two weeks for every year worked and be paid for accrued vacation time, according to a source.
Richmond BizSense has been unable to reach a spokesperson from the company for comment. But in a news release, the company said that “following the layoffs, the RTD will have 602 full and part-time employees, compared to last year’s complement of 772 for the same period.”
More reading:
Salaries hold steady for Media General execs, RBS
Paper Money, Slate
– a great story that explains why so many newspaper companies are having such trouble.
The Times-Dispatch told 28 editorial staffers and31 non-newsroom employees Thursday that they were no longer needed and could leave immediately. Several of the laid-off workers had decades of experience, which likely means their salaries were higher than the younger reporters and might be one reason they were cut.
“This is a sad day for journalism and journalists in Richmond,” said Jeff South, a journalism professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“Some of their most prestigious writers – and writers who have institutional memory – are going to be gone.”
Several of the laid-off reporters covered stories the Richmond area.
The paper will also change the food section around some.
Media General, which owns the Times-Dispatch, is also cutting in Tampa, where it owns the Tampa Tribune. The company has closed down several magazines in Tampa, including Skirt. The Tampa Tribune competes for ad dollars with another daily newspaper in that market, the St. Petersburg Times. The Times-Dispatch has no such daily news competition.
“This is not a day I ever wanted to see come,” said Publisher Thomas A. Silvestri in a statement. “I thank each and every departing employee for their years of valued service that helped publish Richmond’s daily newspapers.”
For employees still at the company, the number of mandatory days off has gone up from 10 days to 13 days, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Like all media companies, Media General is trying to cut costs to keep up with plummeting revenue. The publishing and broadcasting company lost $85.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from a profit of $9.6 million the previous year. Several large newspaper chains have filed for bankruptcy or gone out of business in the past 60 days.
South said he doesn’t think the paper is in immediate danger of disappearing. “This paper has seen its audience as being very traditional. My guess is they will probably hold on to that newspaper reading audience while they gradually shift more attention to the web.”
Laid-off employees will get a severance of two weeks for every year worked and be paid for accrued vacation time, according to a source.
Richmond BizSense has been unable to reach a spokesperson from the company for comment. But in a news release, the company said that “following the layoffs, the RTD will have 602 full and part-time employees, compared to last year’s complement of 772 for the same period.”
More reading:
Salaries hold steady for Media General execs, RBS
Paper Money, Slate
– a great story that explains why so many newspaper companies are having such trouble.
It was 10 furlough days originally — not a week. If Food goes, that means Bill Loehmann goes. Too bad — good writer and nice guy. It’s a shame layoffs don’t cross the street to the executive board — there’s more waste than ever over there.
Since the company is drastically now trying to pay down debt because of its poor acquisition decisions several years ago, I would think those who made those poor decisions should be fired. It appears they are trying to get rid of everyone else in an attempt to save themselves, and degrading the quality of the company further.
Holy geez. Read it here first.
It’s terribly sad to see these veteran reporters and writers laid off. This is not management’s hand at its most velvet-gloved. It’s sort of endlessly astounding how stupid the RTD management is. Just go ahead and get rid of all the names that existing readers know and trust. Definitely a smart move.
They are following in The Tampa Tribune’s footsteps, which is the wrong path. When an exec openly is opposed to print products, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it appears to have permeated the rest of Media General.
Killing the brand is a short term and naive solution.
The clock is ticking for all newspapers to find a “real” business model. One has to wonder if the current model would work in any economy. I hope they find new revenue streams, and fast.
Maybe if the newspaper would move out of the 1960’s and start reflecting what people are really interested in hearing about; maybe if it would start recognizing that the Reagan era is over and the people are not interesting in the constant Republican bootlicking; maybe if it would start recognizing that Chesterfield and Henrico Counties are the power players, not the City; maybe if it would recognize that today’s families don’t give a rip about such Old Richmond garbage as the Bal de Bois . . . maybe people like me wouldn’t be canceling their subscriptions in favor of reading… Read more »
Terrible. My heart goes out to these folks. But it’s Richmond that will suffer. Style does a pretty good job of providing context on developing trends, but its the small stuff that won’t get reported now, unless your neighborhood has a motivated blogger and you know where to find it. BTW, this story says “20 to 25 editorial staffers” but I’m sure it means “20 to 25 news and editorial staffers.” I’m certain 25 people weren’t let go from the editorial department.
Tammy above has it spot-on. Having worked there I know the RTD is mired in the Reagan area in a hundred other ways. Laughable management whims, outdated business ideas. An absurd degree of nepotism and favoritism. Toadyism indulged and encouraged. This company ruled its employees by fear and intimidation to the degree that it wasn’t safe to even be seen in conversation with another employee. Money wasted on company propaganda and executive bonuses while employees were treated as less valuable assets than the computers they worked on. A company that treats its employees as adversaries deserves its fate. The company… Read more »
I worked at the T-D from 1988 to 1991. It was a great place to work for a rookie reporter because there were so many wonderful journalism veterans there. But there was also a lot of favoritism and a few clueless copy desk editors who made life miserable for the non-faves. I would love to have stayed, but when opportunity knocked, I knew I could progress further at a news service than I could with the good old boys. Being stuck in the distant past was another obnoxious thing about the newspaper. On any given day, there was some mention… Read more »
Favoritism abounds at the corporation, not performance. The production area is probably the worst offender.
Accountants running companies is scary.
Having worked at a top J-school for years and habitually read newspapers in the many cities I’ve lived, worked, and visited, the RTD is one of the worst I’ve come across. Lacking any objectivity or ethics in reporting, its the faux news of print, reprinting press releases and opinion as if it was news. My reaction to this news was “only 28?” I cheerfully await the failure of the RTD so that real news media – such as this site – can report real news and perform real investigative reporting without the RTD drowning the market in odious noise.
What the previous poster, Daniel Durazo, said is correct and bears repeating — “The clock is ticking for all newspapers to find a “real” business model. One has to wonder if the current model would work in any economy. I hope they find new revenue streams, and fast.”
But God save us if the government decides to bail out dinosaurs like the Richmond Times Dispatch, and I am afraid that the wheels have already begun to turn in that direction.