(Lexington, KY) Herald-Leader offers more employee buyouts (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Lexington Herald-Leader ^ | August 11, 2008 | Staff

[abb]

The Lexington Herald-Leader on Monday offered a voluntary buyout program to its full-time employees.

Noting that the newspaper industry's traditional business model is undergoing dramatic change, Publisher Timothy M. Kelly said in a memo to employees that “the economy continues to worsen, and we must make the painful choice to reduce expenses further.”

Kelly said it is premature to set a target for the number of buyouts or to say whether layoffs will follow if a certain number of employees fail to leave voluntarily.

“We may limit the number of voluntary applications we accept given business needs or to ensure that no one area of the operation is unfairly impacted,” he said in the memo.

“We will evaluate the number of employees leaving under the voluntary program; how work will be streamlined, reallocated and consolidated; and what additional expense reductions may still be necessary. Then we will determine if additional staff reductions must be made through an involuntary severance program.”

Those accepting the buyout will receive severance pay and a continuation of health benefits. The last day for most accepting the package would be Aug. 29.

In June, the Herald-Leader downsized its work force through buyouts and layoffs. It went from the equivalent of almost 417 full-time employees in May to about 382 in July.

Kelly said the Herald-Leader continues to be profitable, although “we are not as profitable as we have been in the past.”

Even after the current round of buyouts, Kelly said the Herald-Leader will remain the largest news-gathering organization in Central Kentucky, and through the paper and Kentucky.com, it will reach more readers and viewers than ever before.

[debboo]

Poor bird, maybe he could start using the Curious Urinal(Courier Journal) to shite on in the future.

[Berosus]

The general rule is that I give the parrot color advertisements most of the time, figuring he’ll find them more interesting. If he’s a good boy, he gets the comics or the sports section! But I never, EVER, put the editorial pages in the cage face up. That could be hazardous to his mental health.

[SunkenCiv]

:’) Good idea. Ya wouldn’t want the parrot saying “Polly went crackers” or something.

[Berosus]

Well, he does a pretty good imitation of a modern Democrat when he doesn’t get his way. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlwlKRanAt0

[ShakiraG]

Everyone of us is hurting by this economic recession; most of us now find ourselves only one medical emergency away from bankruptcy. Companies and businesses are also feeling the effects of this and in order to survive they are announcing a massive job cuts. In Kentucky, the Lexington Herald Leader, which is a newspaper with the largest circulation and part of the McClatchy newspaper empire, had to resort to layoffs and other measures to avoid closing. The paper will shed about 15% of its workforce, and those on $25,000 or more in yearly salary will have to take a pay cut, including executives who will also not be getting bonuses this year. McClatchy newspapers, the second largest news conglomerate, has been losing ad revenue and facing higher printing costs, and many of its newspapers just like the Lexington Herald Leader face similar circumstances.