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Ya gotta love the severance package. “One week of pay for every six months of service [hey, not bad!], up to one year [uh-oh]” In other words, two weeks’ pay (maximum) unless you’ve worked less than a year, then it’s less.
“We’ve been focused on our work for the past five years. We’ve won Pulitzer prizes, brought down politicians and alerted our readers to corruption, crime and fast breaking news. What has that nose-to-the-printing-press work ethic brought us? The departure of 150 of our colleagues, beginning today.”
In other words, we journalists are marvelous and have done everything perfectly, yet still we suffer rank injustice.
The all too familiar, inexhaustible tale of good v. evil, innocence v. corruption, virtue v. vice, smart v. dumb, nice v. mean, left v. right, labor v. capital, progressive v. reactionary.
Before too long, there will be thousands of A list veteran journalists unemployed—along with millions of others suffering through this recession.
And how many of these journalists, and how many of their mega-rich supposed sympathizers will actually risk their own money and their own time and their own resumes and their own reputations to start papers that can supposedly be profitable?
and there’s also the cratering San Jose Mercury News, and the San Francisco Chronicle, which just cut its Sunday magazine down from weekly to once a month.
“how many of their mega-rich supposed sympathizers”
Whoa, who are these folks? Send me their addresses, cuz I want sum’ moooooneeeeeey!
“to start papers that can supposedly be profitable”
Bzzzt! The correct answer is: [C] No newspapers will be profitable ever again. Period. Such is the evolution of technology into the digital age. Get out while you can….
The scary part about the imminent demise of the tree-logging, paper-pulping, web-printing, truck-delivered daily is that we haven’t already installed a Progressive Guberment to regulate The Commisariat of Officially Sanctioned News, produced by Industry-Trained Journalistic Professionals.
How will I ever sort out fact from an opinion, now that some news I must evaluate might be written by a rust-belt Christian with a concealed-carry permit?
The second half of the Gutenberg revolution really scares me!
I wish that CNN used trees to deliver the news, so that maybe they would go away. But, how long will it be until “Environmentalists against America” demand to control , protect, and limit the use of endangered moving electrons and electromagnetic waves?
July 14th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Ya gotta love the severance package. “One week of pay for every six months of service [hey, not bad!], up to one year [uh-oh]” In other words, two weeks’ pay (maximum) unless you’ve worked less than a year, then it’s less.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Michael:
That means up to one year of pay. So if you were there more than 26 years, those extra years won’t be compensated.
Skicat
July 14th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
For the unemployed journos’ sakes, I hope you are correct. I don’t read it that way, but it could be so.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
That’s what they get for not majoring in accounting.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Randy Michaels. The very name makes me think of sewers.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
The Tell Zell Blog post is rather informative.
According to Tell Zell the “Retch” says:
“We’ve been focused on our work for the past five years. We’ve won Pulitzer prizes, brought down politicians and alerted our readers to corruption, crime and fast breaking news. What has that nose-to-the-printing-press work ethic brought us? The departure of 150 of our colleagues, beginning today.”
In other words, we journalists are marvelous and have done everything perfectly, yet still we suffer rank injustice.
The all too familiar, inexhaustible tale of good v. evil, innocence v. corruption, virtue v. vice, smart v. dumb, nice v. mean, left v. right, labor v. capital, progressive v. reactionary.
Before too long, there will be thousands of A list veteran journalists unemployed—along with millions of others suffering through this recession.
And how many of these journalists, and how many of their mega-rich supposed sympathizers will actually risk their own money and their own time and their own resumes and their own reputations to start papers that can supposedly be profitable?
We all know the answer to that.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
and there’s also the cratering San Jose Mercury News, and the San Francisco Chronicle, which just cut its Sunday magazine down from weekly to once a month.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
“how many of their mega-rich supposed sympathizers”
Whoa, who are these folks? Send me their addresses, cuz I want sum’ moooooneeeeeey!
“to start papers that can supposedly be profitable”
Bzzzt! The correct answer is: [C] No newspapers will be profitable ever again. Period. Such is the evolution of technology into the digital age. Get out while you can….
July 14th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
I’d say its a fabulous time to be a media entrepreneur in Los Angeles.
Jay Levin, where are you??
July 14th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
The scary part about the imminent demise of the tree-logging, paper-pulping, web-printing, truck-delivered daily is that we haven’t already installed a Progressive Guberment to regulate The Commisariat of Officially Sanctioned News, produced by Industry-Trained Journalistic Professionals.
How will I ever sort out fact from an opinion, now that some news I must evaluate might be written by a rust-belt Christian with a concealed-carry permit?
The second half of the Gutenberg revolution really scares me!
Mom!
.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I wish that CNN used trees to deliver the news, so that maybe they would go away. But, how long will it be until “Environmentalists against America” demand to control , protect, and limit the use of endangered moving electrons and electromagnetic waves?
July 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Just keep wearing your tinfoil hat and you’ll be safe Woody!