All the talk

Deadline for deciding on the buyout is looming. Oct. 1 is the last day to opt in here. Rumor has it the pace of visits to Mona Rowe’s office will accelerate over the next two days.

But the question of staying or going isn’t exclusive to us. The following is from a Sept. 22 column by Oregonian classical music critic David Stabler.

The Buyout: To stay or leave

Here in the newsroom, we’re still talking about The Buyout. You can’t get in the elevator, the bathroom or line up for coffee without someone asking if you’re taking it.

I don’t mean to make light. This is a sad, dispiriting time when many friends and colleagues are walking away, never to return to journalism. Some folks have exciting plans and can’t wait to launch them (books, web sites, teaching, buying that island in Oswego Lake), but the newsroom will not be the same without them.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it.

Stabler goes on to wonder how all of those departures will affect coverage by the newspaper. One can’t help but wonder that here as well.

Some might argue that The Star-Ledger now has no choice but to make some radical decisions about what we cover and how we cover it. Some may say this forces the hard decisions that have been delayed or avoided to this point.

From my perspective it simply seems difficult to imagine how we will continue doing what we have always done without a significant portion of that staff. The bodies will be gone. The future will depend on how we deal with that.

We are all familiar with the mantra: Do more with less. We have been hearing it for years. Is this the time to try and do less with less? A more focused less, a less directed toward what we can do that is unique and compelling.

Anyone have any thoughts on where The Ledger should focus coverage in the future? Any thoughts on how to gauge the paper’s audience and how best to serve them? I’d love to hear some ideas.

Tags: futureof newspapers, buyout, deadline

Buyout count

Rumor has it that the Ledger editorial department has tallied upwards of 170 takers for the buyout, well beyond the 100-130 that had been sought. Coupled with the equally rumored total of 100-plus for the rest of the building and another hurdle would appear to be passed toward meeting the demands for continued Newhouse stewardship of The Star-Ledger.

Another bird tells me the editorial department at Trenton may have signed on en toto for the buyout.

There can be no sighs of relief just yet. There is no deal with the drivers, thus everything could still come apart. And if it does go through the questions will only be beginning about how to produce our product(s) with a staff that could be halved? Likewise, will what we will be producing bear much resemblance to what we make now?

Four days to the Oct. 1 deadline and then a week past that to find out if it all held together. T-minus 11 and counting toward our future, whether this deal makes it off the launch pad or not.

Hardest parting

After my last post I couldn’t help but go to this blog posting at Politckernj regarding the imminent “retirement” of two long-time Ledger political reporters, Robert Schwaneberg and Joe Donohue.

My point is not to single out those two for any special notice. Hey, the end is nigh (one way or t’other) for many Star-Ledger staffers. It was the comments that struck me.

Demand Results wrote: great reporters…and their absence from the scene only means that New Jerseyans will get even less information about state government. Not a great day for transparent government.

Republikyle wrote: Regardless of the editorial board’s opinions… it will be a sad day when the Ledger folds, and today is the beginning of the end with the loss of these two reporters.

Unlike the last commenter, I don’t know what the future holds for The Star-Ledger except that there will soon be a significant outflow of institutional knowledge, skilled writing, insightful reporting, visual excellence and editing acumen. Their bodies may be replaced — though that seems unlikely — but their journalistic excellence will be out these doors for good.

Such a loss is difficult to quantify in the short term. Perhaps the people of New Jersey will recognize it in the long run, especially if the Ledger (should it survive) doesn’t retool its reduced staff to properly cover the essentials of state/local government, high school sports and New Jersey news. But at this point we can only wait and see. Didn’t someone say that’s the hardest part.

The end is nigh?

I saw Sharon Adarlo’s email invite to an “End is Nigh” party at Mompou Tapas Lounge on Thursday night. I wondered if she knew something the rest of us didn’t. Heck I wondered if it was even for Star-Ledger folks since there didn’t seem to be any on the CC list. It appeared to be predominantly TV and radio people, judging by the email domains.

But based on what the invite said I also wondered if the broadcast media were facing some of the same issues as the rest of us.

Get together in honor of all our beloved colleagues who are going on to new jobs, or maybe better careers (with likely more job security).
So let’s give a nice toast to our buddies, as well as the dying profession we so love

So maybe the end is near. What’s killing me is wondering how it will all turn out. Buying a round for all of my colleagues, beloved or otherwise, would be a hell of a lot easier if I had a buyout check in my pocket.

To buyout or not buyout, that is the question

Some other sage advice from Joe Grimm (of Poynter’s “Ask the Recruiter“). It might have been more pertinent a month or so ago, but I wasn’t blogging about this then.

A highlight of the column:

Journalists who have been forced out of the business often find that other industries are very happy to find people who are curious, who think critically, who gather and digest information quickly and who can organize and present it clearly. Journalism has always been a good skills platform.

Tags: buyout, layoff, resume, job hunt, future of journalism

Those who are about to freelance …

One way or the other there will probably be lots of us out of a job in the not so distant future. Those taking the resume writing class may hope for a new job, but a few may opt to try and carry on as freelancers. In light of that here is some advice from Poynter’s “Ask the Recruiter” (aka the ever hopeful Joe Grimm).

1. Line up a temporary job. Check with craigslist, Kelly services, anything. The point is to have a check you can depend on so you can control cash flow.
2. Create a website (if you haven’t already), or a blog that has a bio and links to your writing. Use it as an online resume. You can also do the same with linkedin.com if you wish.
3. Send a group email to all your contacts before you make the jump. (I recommend about 3 months, if you can do it that far in advance.) Tell them you’ll be freelancing full time and are looking for assignments.
4. Of course, create a business plan. Check with the Small Business Administration, or the Service Corps of Retired Executives for help. (In fact, do this first!!!)
5. Line up assignments that will have you working for about two to three months. That way, you won’t have time to sit around the house and worry.
6. While you’re working on your assignments, send out feelers for others. Always think at least 3 months ahead.

Tags: freelance, job market, resume

Agreement on the table?

The last few lines of the publisher’s recent update escaped my full attention. Here is what they said:

Therefore, the only stumbling block to meeting the three conditions is ratification of an agreement by the Drivers.  We hope that they will take the steps necessary to ratify their draft agreement by the deadline or else The Star-Ledger will be put up for sale on October 9.

The possible meaning of this was the subject of an AP story Tuesday. The lede says:

The publisher of The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., reiterated on Tuesday his threat to put New Jersey’s largest newspaper up for sale next month if its drivers union fails to approve a new contract.

Star-Ledger Publisher George Arwady seemed to suggest, however, that a tentative agreement has been reached and awaits ratification. In a memo to employees, Arwady urged the union to “take the steps necessary to ratify their draft agreement by the deadline.”

Arwady and union officials did not return phone calls on Tuesday.

Is an agreement on the table? Guess we will have to wait and see.

Tags: unions, future of the star-ledger, contract

No bluff, no lie

For those who don’t read the New York Observer, our owner was quoted there today regarding matters here.

When asked by “Media Mob,” presumably the column writer John Koblin, if the threat of sale or closure was just a negotiating tactic, Mr. Newhouse responded: “We do not bluff or lie.”

Here is an excerpt:

Is it a negotiation tactic, or real?

That’s what Media Mob asked Advance publications president Donald Newhouse today regarding the memo that Star-Ledger publisher George Arwady sent out to staff saying that if a drivers union didn’t agree to a new contract, the paper would be in danger of closing.

“That’s what we’ve told our employees and we do not bluff or lie,” he responded.

Many of us have met Mr. Newhouse in passing at the office. I remember him pressing flesh with people in the newsroom whose salaries probably fell more than a few figures below his net worth. Can’t say I know him, but he is far more personable even than most publishers for whom I have worked.

Still, nothing about him would suggest he is soft.

As such, it would probably be a mistake to think talk of closure or sale is just a way of getting leverage.

Tags: star-ledgerclosing, star-ledger sale,

We may be missed

According to the latest Arwady memo, our fate remains in the hands of the teamsters. While not explicitly stated in the Sept. 23, 2008 “Update on Progress,” that appears to be the only hang up to continued life for The Star-Ledger with Newhouse newspapers.

The mailers have a new contract and, Arwady says in the memo, “we expect that our goals for the voluntary buyouts will be met.”

All that remains are the drivers.

But should the conditions fail to be met, it is nice to know that some will miss us. I ran across a few Ledger lovers commenting at a Google-group devoted to the music of New Jersey bard, Bruce Springsteen. The comments came after a summary by EStreetJoe of the woes we have come to know so well.

St alphonso, had the most succinct response: “Damn.  First Heath, then this………”

Think how we feel, Phonso. You are a fan, we are Heath.

“If that happens, what will Tony Soprano do at the bottom of his
driveway every morning?” Matt o asked in another comment. Unless there is a reunion show, we will never know, but we share his concern.

Patrick1 offers what may be the highest compliment: “…the Star Ledger IS New Jersey, it’s not only the largest but also the best” newspaper in the state.

The internet seems to bring few compliments for The Ledger — or any newspaper. Many web sites carrying posts regarding the ongoing saga at The Star-Ledger are full to over-flowing with rips on the supposed liberal bent of our paper or most every newspaper. Many bloggers seem overjoyed at the imminent demise of the printed members of MSM (mainstream media). Their bile runneth over as they insist our publication would have fared much better had we toed a more conservative line, ignoring the financial woes also touching such right-wing bastions as The Wall Street Journal and Washington Times.

We can find some of those more typical responses at Dinosaur Media Deathwatch, where observations such as the following, by Joe Boucher, are more common: “That’s it, take charge, be a leader and show the way for so many other bad biased newspapers to go out of business. Good-bye Star Ledger of Newark, now all you folks who’ve been spreading lies can go get real jobs.”

But likeavision, commenting at the Springsteen site, captures best the fears facing us all because what is happening isn’t just a local issue, nor one focused exclusively on newspapers (biased or otherwise).

Guys this is serious shit.  It’s happening up here in Maine with the
Portland Press Herald. And in thousand of small towns in America
across a myriad of business sectors.

The fact is that for all the good the internet hath wrought, it has
also created an amazing amount of chaos and displacement. Small
business (from bookstores, to record stores, to brokerage firms to
publishers, to hardware stores to furniture stores etc) has been
decimated by the internet far more-so and far more quickly by the
internet than mass consolidation.

Maybe what is great for the consumer is not so great in the end.
Because businesses die, people lose jobs, hometowns give way to
nationalism and globalism in ways that are not healthy or productive.
I dont have the answer but I have to say for the average Joe the
impact of technology and globalism must suck. And in turn maybe it
sucks for us all because we are stuck in the end with USA TODAY,
STARBUCKS, BEST BUY, WALMART and all the rest.

So for most of us Americans, we make less money, have less choices,
and have less pride and investment in what we stand for as individuals
and communities.

I mean there is no doubt that much of this is unstoppable in that
people’s behavior dictate the course of business and culture. But when
will we wake up and discover what we are losing or what has already
been lost?

The Star-Ledger, love it or hate it, will soon be gone in whole or in part. You can’t lose 200+ people and stay the same. When will we wake up and discover what is lost here and in towns across this country where newspapers will shrink dramatically or shut-down entirely? Not until well after it is done.

Tags: compliments, future of newspapers, springsteen, buyouts, unions

Nothing to worry about

Metaprinter, at his blog, says the threat of closing The Star-Ledger is nothing but an empty threat. The Newhouses have too much incentive to keep the paper (or NJ.com) going to close it all down. I could quibble with some suppositions — the Newhouses did close the Long Island Press in 1977 during a union dispute even though it was profitable — but what would be the point? We only have a few more days until we all find out.

M. Printer goes on to opine:

I think the truckers union will come to an agreement before the October 8th deadline. The incentive to retain their jobs is greater than the opportunity of striking and having to find other union work in the current economic climate.

If there is no agreement, expect Newhouse to run The Star-Ledger through their NJ.com website and “sell” the print product to a non union buyer. The printed product will continue under a non-union enterprise.

I would love to hear some other thoughts on this. Will we live? Will we die? Can NJ.com sustain us? Is there a buyer? Could the paper be sold separate from its web presence?

Tags: star-ledger, newspaper closing, future of newspapers