Say WA? Evergreen State ping
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
Posted on 12/28/2007 2:04:03 PM PST by abb
Seattle Times Publisher and Chief Executive Frank Blethen painted a dark picture of the newspaper's near-term future in a year-end memo sent Thursday to staff members, hinting at deep cuts without mentioning layoffs.
"The past several weeks your senior leadership group has been engaged in the most difficult and painful downsizing this company has experienced," he wrote.
"Until now we've been able to minimize some of the harm from the decade's downsizing. But, with the company at bare bones, these cuts will hurt deeply going into 2008 and the remainder of the decade."
Blethen said nothing specific about cost-saving measures The Times Co. may take. But in a Dec. 21 e-mail to members of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, which represents most of the editorial employees at The Times and the Seattle P-I, the union reported "speculation" about such measures.
That e-mail said Guild members were reporting to the Guild that The Times' East and North news bureaus would be consolidated into office space at the papers' shared Bothell printing plant, and that The Times' South King County and Washington, D.C., bureaus may be closed.
Larger and fewer newspaper-delivery routes may enable staff cuts, the union's e-mail said. And the Teamsters have said they plan to meet with Times management to consider a Times proposal to outsource all deliveries.
Times spokeswoman Corey Digiacinto said Thursday that the 2008 budget and "associated decisions" are still being finalized and that no announcements are likely until early 2008.
Thursday's five-page memo "is the first shoe, and the other will be dropping soon," said Guild administrative officer Liz Brown. She said that The Times' 2008 budget will likely be presented to the board of directors when it meets Jan. 17, and that any cuts will likely occur after that.
P-I Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby said Blethen is "taking the appropriate measures." He acknowledged that nonnewsroom expense cuts made at The Times "very directly" affect the operation of the P-I, under the joint operating agreement that has governed the papers' business relationship since 1983.
"If you lose revenue, you have to do something to make up for it on the expense side," Oglesby said.
He said privately held Hearst Corp. does not release revenue figures. At the P-I, he added, "we've been trying to make expense cuts for some time, and we'll continue to do so."
P-I Managing Editor David McCumber said the P-I is routinely leaving job vacancies unfilled, cutting back on travel and selectively reducing the paper's size, all with an eye toward saving money.
"The economy is its own challenge and the state of our industry is another," he said. "The combination means it makes sense to be judicious about expenses."
Yoko Kuramoto-Eidsmoe, a Times features copy editor who is president of the Guild, said of Blethen's memo, "It sounds pretty bleak, but not really surprising given what's going on in the industry."
She continued: "Some people think it will affect the newsroom, some don't. It's encouraging Frank continues to be committed to good journalism, but who knows how much good journalism the company will decide it can afford?"
In his e-mail, Blethen said revenue from print ads will be down by about 9 percent in 2007, with a similar decline expected in 2008. For combined 2007 and 2008, print revenue losses will be about $33 million, he said.
In 2000, the paper booked $270 million in ad revenue, while in 2007, it fell below $200 million, he said.
"Our Seattle Times newspaper losses for the decade will exceed $40 million -- a staggering number," he wrote.
The publisher's senior leadership group has "found reductions of about $21 million" and needs to cut an additional $6 million "to ensure stability next year," Blethen said. Even saving $27 million "leaves a significant gap with the revenue losses," he said.
But, he said, if The Times can adjust to lower revenues, "I believe we are on our way to creating the metro newspaper model of the future."
That newspaper would appear in print and online, offering news, information and advertising, he said. Though online ad revenue is essential, it now equals only about 10 percent of The Times' print revenue, he said.
Blethen noted that the McClatchy Co., which owns 49.5 percent of the controlling stock of The Times Co., has twice written down the value of that holding.
The shares were valued at "well over $200 million" when the Sacramento, Calif.-based company acquired them through its $4.1 billion purchase of Knight Ridder Inc. in June 2006, he said. They were valued at "only $19 million" last month, he said.
Still, the Blethen family remains committed to journalism, he said. He laid out a 10-year plan calling first for a transformation from "the failing metro newspaper model," then for the "final hand-off" of the paper to the next generation, and finally to beginning to "grow value again" in 2017.
Frank Blethen's memo to staff To: Seattle Times Employees
From: Frank
Date: December 27, 2007
Subject: Publisher Year-End Message
Most of you read the industry press, so it should be no surprise that the economic model which has been the basis for the modern-day metropolitan newspapers is imploding.
snip
May I suggest, fireing that worthless piece of Shite Joel Connelly.
Connelly works for the P.I.
My guess is that a huge chunk of their costs are related to newsprint and the cost of printing and shipping the paper, and that their new economic model - if it works - will be much more Internet based.
don't read the Boston Globe here... lying rag of a paper
If they are very lucky and work very hard at it.
I haven’t subscribed to a paper since the 80s, and that is in SE Florida.
Before that, I was burning them after reading, but I soon realized that that was a particularly nasty type of pollution, so I stopped.
They aren’t even good to wrap the fish in anymore. - you never can get that smell out of the fish.
Employees of the Times' sister paper The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (or simply, "Pee Eye") were seen in a circle around a bonfire (stoked by blocks of a green, leafy substance, the odor of the smoke hinting strongly of burning rope) singing Kumbayah. A senior editor delivered a spittle-flinging, incoherent eulogy laden with numerous references to saints Rather and Couric before collapsing in a wracking, sobbing heap and tugging at his forelock.
The final act of the memorial "togetherness experience" involved the signing of a petition to draft Hugo Chavez for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
Funeral services will be held at the Evergreen State College.
Ya are one WILD AND CRAZY GUY!!!
The fact that they lasted this longs attestes to how far left Seattle has gone. They’re now going to “tax” for food in the garbage?
Oh it is the PI reporting about the Times. I guess I got it mixed up.
Have a happy New Year!
Be careful old man, “Don’t hurt yourself!:)
This data gives me a really great warm feeling all over on a cold day in N California:
Blethen noted that the McClatchy Co., which owns 49.5 percent of the controlling stock of The Times Co., has twice written down the value of that holding.
“The shares were valued at “well over $200 million” when the Sacramento, Calif.-based company acquired them through its $4.1 billion purchase of Knight Ridder Inc. in June 2006, he said. They were valued at “only $19 million” last month, he said.”
At first glance, there appears to be one hell of a lot of Enronning if the Shares were valued at $200 million in June of 2006 falling to 19 million in November. Those books had been over cooked and stretched.
Our local fishwrap is doing something different.
Last week on Thursday and this Thursday in the mail not in the Fishwrap, we received addressed to our address, the Thur/Friday classified ads of the Fishwrap with 3 inserts in the classifieds. One insert was from a local store, and two were biggies, Walmart and an electronic chain store.
Our younger son noted that in his new neighborhood, only one house gets any newspaper. That household may discontinue because of the noisy delivery pickup. They are getting complaints from their neighbors being awakened at 3-4 am for the delivery of the fishwrap.
We have friends, who live in a very exclusive locked gate community of 50 homes. Their last homeowner meeting nearly became a boxing match. 5 home owners still get the NY Slimes and San Francisco Gay Rhonicle, and the delivery truck wakes everyone up at about 4 am. The 5 elite liberals from NYC and LA want their Slimes and Gay Rhonicle inspite of the negative impact on the other home owners. We may see lawsuits on this before it is over or some punched out fishwrap lovers.
Our son and DIL, 60 miles away receive the local fishwrap free every Friday with ads and inserts in it. As noted before, no one in their cul de sac buys/subscribes to any fishwrap.
Excellent news. MSM taking it on the ass pretty hard.
This is the same paper where cheers erupted in the newsroom when Rove announced his resignation.
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.