I didn’t want to talk about the sad (boo-hoo) state of California newspapers without starting with an upbeat picture. I chose one of my wife Laura and her lovely sisters.
Oh, I could go on and on about how folks are tired of the stuff that we call ‘newspapers’ …and everyone has their own nicknames… like the ‘ daily disappointment.’ However, it’s not the price of a newspaper that gets to people… it’s what they put into it …and this ‘truth’ is what ‘journalists’ have refused to recognize. Newspapers have refused to look at the changing world honestly.
Here’s what the Wall Street Journal Wrote about the issue:
“a precipitous drop in ad spending has cut profits at U.S. Newspapers sharply. Some dailies are in bankruptcy, some are printing fewer papers and some have closed altogether. Thousands of reporters, editors and others have left the industry.”
Here what’s happening at the top 50 National newspapers that also happen to be in California:
The Los Angeles Daily News
CHANGES: Twenty-two editorial employees were laid off in February 2008.
CIRC: 137,344
The Fresno Bee
The Fresno Bee said in March it will lay off 63 people. The layoffs are the third round of job cuts at the Bee since June 2008.
CIRC: 150,334
Investor’s Business Daily
The privately held company hasn’t reported any staff reductions or financial difficulties.
CIRC: 161,421
The Press-Enterprise (Riverside)
The Press-Enterprise laid off 40 employees in 2009, including 20 in the newsroom. This followed 30 layoffs in September and previous rounds of voluntary severance.
CIRC: 164,189
Contra Costa Times
MediaNews implemented a mandatory one-week furlough for employees in the first quarter of 2009. Twenty-nine newsroom employees were laid off in July 2008. Several rounds of buyouts were offered in 2007 and 2008. MediaNews bought the Contra Costa Times from McClatchy in August 2006.
CIRC: 183,086
San Jose Mercury News
In January, employees were furloughed for one week. The San Jose Mercury News today employs approximately a third of the 420 journalists who worked there in 2001.
CIRC: 234,772
The Orange County Register
The Orange County Register in March 2009 announced layoffs and mandatory five-day furloughs as part of an effort to cut costs. The layoffs are the latest cuts at the Register, which went through six rounds of staff reductions last year.
CIRC: 250,724
The Sacramento Bee
McClatchy Co. said in March 2009 it would shear another 1,600 jobs in a cost-cutting spree that has clipped nearly one-third of the publisher’s work force in less than a year. The Bee eliminated 128 jobs, or 11% of its staff, and imposed pay cuts on remaining workers. Since June 2007, the Bee has cut 301 jobs, about 26%, via layoffs, buyouts and attrition.
CIRC: 268,755
Roger Freberg