Another 202er supplies a post. (Have I mentioned how much I love you guys?)
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Hey Katy,
Here's an article on WCCO (Minneapolis) from today. Looks like the Star Tribune is laying off people in their print department. Tie into the Cap Times?
http://wcco.com/business/star.tribune.job.2.651035.html
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This was a part of the conversation I'm hearing at the multimedia conference I'm at this week. Job losses are nothing new in newspapers right now. The interesting, and disconcerting, element to this one is that these are involuntary layoffs, not voluntary buyouts. At papers like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that have been cutting staff, the cuts to date have been voluntary and accompanied by a severance package. These cuts are not anything pretty, but they're a grade above a layoff.
So here's what I want to know from you: does this scare you? If you want to go into journalism, how does this time feel for you? I gave a speech last week to the Wisconsin Newspaper Association titled, "Why It's a Good Time to Want to Be a Reporter Even Though Everyone Says It Isn't" (and incidentally, the subtitle was "Yes, They Pay Me to Teach People to Be Concise"). Why do you think I'm optimistic?
Monday, February 11, 2008
Strib Layoffs
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5 comments:
I'm not really that afraid. Ideally I'd like to see myself work for something in print, but these layoffs may just signify that jobs are shifting to a different piece of the market, I still think the skills will be needed (if not more skills than mere writing and reporting).
And.. well as far as that strib layoff article goes, it said most are in circulation, which is not my intended dept.
KB
I can certainly sympathize with and understand where the fears are coming from. Newspapers are more conglomerated now than ever. As a result, costs are being cut in order to turn profit rather than provide a service. On the other hand, the way in which we (as in EVERYONE) get information is changing like never before. The internet, as the Cap. Times has shown, is changing the way news is distributed. Perhaps the industry is going through some sort of growing pains in terms of staff amounts needed in the digital age. I'm just throwing out ideas. On the bright side, new technology spreads out the power in terms of distributing information.
For right now, I get my news online primarily from national/local news companies like NY Times, Slate, USA Today, Wisconsin State Journal. It's pretty much the same as reading the actual papers, except that advertising revenues for online places is more difficult to sort out. There may be a threat to educated journalists if blogging becomes more popular. I see the power between independent bloggers and journalists becoming close to even, but I don't think the bloggers will win out. We are being trained to know the ethics and norms behind reporting, which should make us more likely to be more trustworthy.
This particular post makes me extremely sad. I am from Minnesota and grew up reading the Star Tribune. I still aspire to one day work in its Minneapolis office (which I also saw may be sold by the company that owns it). The Star Tribune has an incredibly rich history in Minneapolis and as a MN native, this makes me sad. As a print journalism student, this makes me uneasy.
I do log on to The Cap. Times Web site daily to check Madison news, but the Star Tribune layoffs resonate with me a little bit more.
I think change can be frightening at times, especially when entering the job market ... but I am still optimistic that this school with provide us with everything we need to succeed in the ever-changing media world.
I really find cuts discouraging and even scary. I also hope to go into print journalism and feel overwhelmed both by the steady stream of cuts and the number of people urging me to choose another career. I realize that news isn't disappearing, but as it moves online, jobs are. More stories are being shared so fewer reporters are necessary.
I am also from the Twin Cities and have been reading the Strib my whole life, so this really makes a national concern hit home for me. Guess I'm just going to have to cross my fingers and hope I can find a job with mpr instead...
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