Beastly Cuts: Troubled Website Dumps Two Dozen Writers & Editors

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Nostalgia isn't  always a good thing, as The Daily Beast staffers will attest, after massive layoffs last week restored the Web site to staff levels five years ago, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter.

Two dozen editors and reporters were sacked, leaving the Beast workforce at approximately 65, THR.com reported. Reductions hit bureaus in New York and Washington, D.C. and decimated the Los Angeles staff, which now consists solely of one senior writer.

The Daily Beast, which is owned by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp., is feeling the pain created by the parent company's ill-fated purchase of Newsweek in 2010.

Down at the Wire

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Reuters is slashing five percent of its editorial workforce worldwide, the New York Observer (www.Observer.com) reported today.

Coming on the heels of the wire service's decision to abandon consumer facing site Reuters Next after a two-year gestation period, Reuters President and Editor in Chief Stephen Adler said the reduction in force would affect all levels of the news agency, including management.

BBC Cost-Cutting Initiative Shutters 75 News Posts

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Seventy-five news posts will be shut down in a cost-savings move by the British Broadcasting Corp as part of its euphemistically named Delivering Quality First initiative, whose goal is to realize savings of 700 million pound ($1,120,879,665), The Guardian reported.

The DQF proposal was unveiled in 2011 (See "TUOL" posts 1/24/11, & 10/7/11) and has caused the BBC (Brits Be Cuttin') to butt heads with the National Union of Journalists, in that the plan calls for shrinking BBC News' workforce by 600 by the 2016-17 financial year, according to The Guardian article.  Over the next year, 17 newsgathering slots are expected to be eliminated, including the Moscow Bureau Editor.

BBC & Current Affairs employ more than 8,000, according to the article.

NPR Offering Buyouts; Hopes to Reduce Staff by 10 Percent

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In a closed board meeting yesterday, NPR tackled an anticipated $6.1 million operating deficit for the coming fiscal year by agreeing to offer buyouts in hopes of reducing its workforce by 10 percent.

The Washington Post reported today that 80 to 84 employees would be cut loose from NPR's 840-member staff if the buyouts work as intended. The NPR board also named former SEC attorney Paul G. Haaga, Jr., a member of NPR's board since 2011, its interim CEO, replacing Gary Knell, who is departing in November to take the helm of the National Geographic Society.

The 10 percent staff reduction is one of the largest in NPR's history, according to the Post article.  The astute "TUOL" staff suspected something was amiss when it noticed NPR's giveaway tote bags seemed smaller.

Perhaps the company can hit up its favorite philanthropist, Hugh R. Lisnerz, for some money.

Wire-Cutting

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At least nine editorial slots have been axed by Thomson Reuters ("TR") news service in a cost-cutting measure, the Web site for Talking Biz News (www.talkingbiznews.com) reported today.

An indeterminate number of TR employees across the board are getting their walking papers in departments ranging from training to sales and editorial, the Talking Biz News post reported. Reportedly, a quarter of Reuters' Wealth Mgt. Division was eliminated by the staff reduction.

Pink-Slipped Journos Feeling Blue in R.I. & Mass.

The Providence Journal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's the same musical refrain: shrinking circulation, declining ad revenues and a redirection toward digital editions, but it has New England journalists singing the blues.

WPRI.com reported this week that The Providence Journal trimmed its 460-member workforce by 5 percent, including three photographers among the 23 employees given their walking papers. The Journal, which also saw 11 staffers accept a voluntary buyout in September, must make do with its remaining 10 photographers.

Journal parent company A.H. Belo pointed to sagging advertising linage, noting a 13 percent plunge in advertising revenue during the 3Q of 2012, compared to the same three-month period ending September 30 a year ago.

Meanwhile, The Boston Globe Web site, boston.com, reported this week that the Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. ("CNH") chain, whose stable of dailies includes The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Gloucester Daily Times, Salem News, The Daily (Newburyport) News, also slashed 5 percent of its 375-member workforce, cutting 21 jobs.

CNH, which is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, did not detail which papers would be impacted, though it was reported elsewhere that the Eagle-Tribune (against whom the ink-stained staff of "TUOL" competed at a rival paper back in the day) lost a couple of reporters.

Murdoch's Daily Tough Tablet to Swallow--50 Staffers Pink-Slipped

(Photo credit: robjewitt)Rupert Murdoch's The Daily, News Corp.'s $30 million national digital news outlet designed for tablets and touchscreen devices that made its splashy debut on Groundhog Day a year ago (see "TUOL" post 1/28/11), has laid off 29 percent of its full-time staff, with 50 employees cut loose, All Things Digital.com reports.

Other changes at The Daily include scrapping the opinion section and relying on content partners, such as FoxSports, to fill its sports section, according to the All Things Digital article. Additionally, the i-Pad only journal will switch to a portrait-only view.

Globe Takes Turn for the Worst: Voluntary Buyouts Offered

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Forty-three Boston Globe workers, union members and management alike--including 20 newsroom staffers--have been offered voluntary buyouts, and another 10 employees were laid off, according to Globe Publisher and New England Media Group ("NEMG") President Christopher M. Mayer.

According to a report by the Globe's rival, the tabloid Boston Herald, the New York Times-owned broadsheet in May saw its daily circulation drop below 200,000 for the first time ever, fueling speculation that the Globe and another Times property, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, may soon be offered for sale. Reportedly, the Telegram & Gazette laid off one staffer and offered voluntary buyouts to another 10.

According to a report by the Poynter.org Web site, the T & G will eliminate slots and layoffs will ensue if the buyouts are not accepted.  The Globe, which boasts a work force of 1,881, does not anticipate universal acceptance of the buyout offer. As part of a cost-savings measure, the Globe reportedly plans to close its suburban bureaus.

FCC-Approved Toledo TV Station Sale Means Staff Layoffs

Toledo, Ohio (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Fox affiliate WUPW-TV  Channel 36 in Toledo, Ohio, has been snatched up by the owner of rival CBS affiliate WTOL-TV Channel 11, The Toledo Blade reported this week.

The acquisition by American Spirit Media from Lin Media gained FCC approval and allows the two stations to share broadcasts and newsroom personnel, according to the Blade article. LIN Media alerted the Ohio Dept. of  Job and Family Services last month that layoffs would occur sometime in late April.

The consolidation could result in up to 63 staffers getting pink-slipped, the Blade reported.

Reader's Digest Workforce--the Condensed Version

Image via WikipediaPleasantville, N.Y.-based publisher Reader's Digest, sharing the pain worldwide, has abridged its labor force by 150 jobs, half of which are in the U.S., according to a report in Folio Magazine.

The company wouldn't disclose details about the layoffs, though Folio reports that 30 slots were eliminated at Reiman Publications in Greendale, Wisconsin. Pink slips were doled among the company's domestic and international entities so that the publisher could focus on its more valuable brands, The Family Handyman, Taste of Home and Reader's Digest, according to the Folio story.

Reader's Digest, which emerged from a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2010 (see "TUOL" post 8/17/09), saw a 4.4 percent boost in 3Q revenues compared to Third Quarter revenues in 2010, and reduced its net loss to $76.8 million from $86.8 million a year ago. The company is headed by CEO Robert Guth, the third person to take the helm of the publishing company in the last year.

BBC Budgetary Bombshell

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeDesperate to reduce its operating budget by 20 percent over the next five years, the British Broadcasting Corp. announced layoffs approaching 400 staffers throughout England, with local radio stations taking the largest hit at 280 jobs, the BBC reported.

The BBC said another 100 jobs will be lost in regional current affairs, online, local weather and regional news. The National Union of Journalists and the technicians union, Bectu, oppose the reductions. 

Media Conglomerate Slashes Two Percent of Its Work Force

Image via WikipediaRomanesko's Media blog reports that media giant Gannett Co. is doling out pink slips to 700 members of its U.S. Community Publishing (USCP) unit, roughly 2 percent of its work force.

The company blamed a weak real estate sector, lagging automobile ads and slow job growth for its plunging ad revenues, necessitating the staff reduction. Romanesko notes that in March, Gannett CEO Craig Dubow saw his salary doubled and received a $1.25 million cash bonus, so apparently, the "soft" advertising market is hitting some employees harder than others.

Mediate: Huff Post Will Handle All Aol Original News Content

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeA little more than two months after America Online and Huffington Post announced their merger (see "TUOL" post 2/7/11), Mediaite.com is reporting that Aol News will forego producing original content, leaving that task to Huff Post staffers.

Aol has yet to respond to the Mediaite post. Mediaite reported that included among the jobs pared by Aol last month (see "TUOL" post 3/10/11) were a previously undisclosed 120 editorial staffers. If Mediaite's story is borne out, it remains to be seen whether the "Aol News" brand, such as it is, will continue to have an online presence, even if it is being overseen and created by Huffington Posters.

AOL: You've Got Layoffs!

Image by Frank Gruber via FlickrAOL, fresh off its acquisition of The Huffington Post [see "TUOL" post 2/7/11], has slashed 900 jobs, according to the Paidcontent.org and All Things Digital Web sites.

The breakdown involves pink slips being issued to 200 U.S. employees and 400 workers in India, and outsourcing another 300 jobs in India. Among those departing are Jonathan Dube, senior veep of news. Editorial and other media product groups are taking a hit, but advertising staffers were spared in this round, so that they can devote themselves to drumming up ads for The Huffington Post, no doubt.

Since Tim Armstronng became CEO of America Online, 90 percent of the Internet Service Provider's leadership team has turned over.  Now we understand what the AOL "running man" logo is running from.

Ay carumba! Spanish Media Conglomerate Slashes 2,500 jobs

Image via WikipediaGrupo Prisa (Promotora de Informaciones, S.A.), the Spanish media giant that owns magazines, radio stations, television stations and newspapers, including El Pais, Spain's largest daily, will pare its worldwide work force of  14,000 by 18 percent, or 2,500 jobs, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

The employee layoffs, or despidos de empleados, will entail 2,000 jobs in Spain and another 500 positions in  Portugal and the U.S. combined.  Delaware-based Liberty Acquisitions Holdings Corp. acquired Grupo Prisa last November in a debt-reduction move

BBC Online Slashing Budget & Trimming Staff

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe British Broadcasting Corp. is targeting 2013 as the date of a major reorganization of BBC Online that will mean a 25 percent budget reduction and the loss of as many as 360 posts, according to Web site PaidContent.org (http://paidcontent.co.uk).

BBC Online will reduce its service budget by 34 million pounds ($54,386, 653) to 103 million pounds ($164,777,630) from 137 million pounds ($219,170,246) and phase out 360 posts over the next two years.  BBC Online's reconfiguration will focus on 10 areas: sports, weather, news, knowledge & learning, radio & music, tv & iPlayer, CBBC, CBeebies, homepage and search, according to paidcontent.org.

BBC Online has no plans to launch its own social network or to publish local listings. The cutbacks are part of the public broadcaster's Putting Quality First strategy.

MySpace for Rent?

Image via CrunchBaseThe Web site All Things Digital ("ATD") claims News Corp.-owned MySpace may lay off at least 50 percent of its 1000-member staff tomorrow.

ATD, which also is part of Murdoch's News Corp. holdings, said the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based MySpace is being shopped to private equity firms. Rumors also abound that Yahoo may line up as a buyer.  The travails of MySpace have been well-chronicled by this blog (see "TUOL" posts 10/13/10, 8/6/10 & 6/24/09).

USA Today Staffers Brace for More Bad News

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According to GannettBlog, an independent journal that covers media conglomerate Gannett Co., the 1,500+ employees at Gannett's flagship national paper USA Today are on tenterhooks following Publisher Dave Hunke's remarks at a staff meeting last week concerning an imminent significant reorganization of the paper that will include "involuntary layoffs."

Grappling with industrywide drops in circulation and ad revenue, a slowdown in business travel, and fierce challenges from national competitors New York Times and Wall St. Journal, USA Today has experienced a 14 percent drop in circulation from a year ago and an 11 percent decline in advertising in the first quarter of 2010, compared to a year ago. The GannettBlog post notes that the A section of the 28-year-old paper one day last month featured only two advertisements.

More Layoffs at San Diego Union Tribune

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The bleeding continues at The San Diego Union Tribune, where up to 40 editorial staffers were pink-slipped this week, according to a report by NBC.

Reporters, feature writers, and web editors were among those axed as a cost-savings measure to offset shrinking ad revenues.  Since it acquired the Union Tribune last year, investment firm Platinum Equity has slashed nearly 300 jobs off the newspaper's payroll (see "TUOL" post 8/13/09).

According to the NBC story, management has created junior staff writer positions that pay between $30,000-$35,000 to generate news content. The Union Tribune would not confirm the latest round of staff layoffs.

ABC News Layoffs Fewer Than Expected

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With more than 300 employees accepting voluntary buyouts, ABC News has limited its latest round of bloodletting to 22 staff layoffs, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Hold the celebration, as the 350-400 ABC staffers pink-slipped represent more than 25 percent of the 1,400-person news division (see "TUOL" post 2/24/10).  Casualties include ABC's special events department, as well as a policy shift at "20/20" and "Primetime," where freelancers are replacing full-time employees.

Bureaus were hard hit too, with L.A. losing 40 plus positions, including high-profile veteran correspondents Brian Rooney and Lisa Fletcher, while San Francisco shed Laura Marquez.  Except for Washington, D.C., ABC News plans to shutter its bureaus.

Forget Nightline--someone throw ABC News a "lifeline."