When Crickets Chirp

via the Strib:

Bowing to the pressures of declining circulation and falling revenue, the Star Tribune Monday announced a sweeping program of buyouts across the company that will send 145 employees out the door, either through buyouts or, if enough people don’t volunteer, layoffs.

Put in a good word for some of those folks, too, if or when you contact the Strib management. I suspect many, especially the blue collar folks who ran presses and cleaned up the place don't have the options some others might.

Publisher Par Ridder delivered the news in a company-wide meeting in which he laid out the increasingly bleak fortunes for daily metro newspapers. The company’s annual advertising and circulation revenue has fallen by $64 million over the last three years. Classified advertising was down 23 percent in the first quarter over last year. If current trends continue, Ridder said, the paper would begin to lose money in a year to 18 months.

“I think it’s probable that we can get the Star Tribune growing again, but clearly we are in a very difficult period,” said Ridder.

The greatest impact of this market shift will not be felt among the talent in newsrooms across the country, though they will be sure to get, as well as give themselves, the majority of the ink.

The buyouts will occur in departments across the newspaper, with about 50 coming from the newsroom, about 25 from circulation and marketing and about 75 from finance, human resources, IT and production.

The web is often not very kind to local outlets, I imagine many of their readers are not on line. Or perhaps they want to turn it over to younger blood, hard to know.

The paper gave an involuntary buyout to Rob Daves, director of the Minnesota Poll and the part-time manager of the newspaper’s community website, www.buzz.mn.

Missed this bit below via Lileks first time around. Hell, I would have fired him simply for the arrogance in the face of so many people being put on the street. But given Strib management, who knows, maybe they'll cave.

Would it matter if you contacted the paper? It very well might. Here's the reader's rep's page.

If I can get my column back and / or a nice big Online gig, that would be a satisfactory conclusion. Reporting on Internet start-ups as opposed to joining an Internet start-up – eh, not so much.

I'll miss this Kersten. Didn't read her much but she seemed to be the only one there doing anything newsy on the elements of radical Islam in the area.

The newspaper’s reorganization may also include reassigning one of the paper’s four local columnists — Cheryl Johnson, Doug Grow, Katherine Kersten and Nick Coleman. The newspaper also expects to reduce its editorial staff by five staffers to seven.

If Lileks is as good, and has the potential to be as broadly popular within a net demographic, as many say, I'd think he might be better suited to one of the already established net players. Maybe they could give him Andrew Sullivan's job? I honestly don't see this Strib emerging as enough of a major on line player to support his type of talent, no matter how good.

And the biggest overlooked story in all this - we may be seeing the nearing of the end of hometown news. And that, to me, is a shame.

Comments

[Jim Treacher]

Based on today's Bleat, I don't think Lileks knew the magnitude of the layoffs when he wrote yesterday's.

[Old Grouch]

Which does tie in with your comment yesterday that "not every business can cash in on every opportunity." Given this new information, I wonder if the Star-Tribune is even economically viable. Seems the current owners faced an OhMyGawd! moment when they finally got a real look at the books.

But it's also widely believed that most newsrooms are overstaffed, at least as measured by the actual output. Certainly in my market outsiders have often wondered "what do all of those people DO?," because it sure doesn't show up in print.