Gannett Layoffs Hit The Tennessean
This week Gannett — parent company to The Tennessean — announced it would be eliminating 1,000 jobs companywide, which translates to roughly three percent of its workforce. Here in Nashville, that means that about 50 positions will be cut, according to Bob Faricy, the guy who returned our call to Tennessean publisher Ellen Leifeld.
Faricy says that 40 of the jobs set for axing are already vacant and just won’t be filled. The other ten, unfortunately, are currently held by actual humans who will soon find themselves unemployed. Exactly who will be taken to the woodshed has not yet been finalized, but Faricy says that the layoffs should come from both the business and editorial departments.
The cost cutting has already gotten rather uncomfortable for folks at 1100 Broadway. There’s a rumor (see comments) floating around that the air conditioning went kaput during last week's heat spell because the guy who usually fixes it had taken a company buyout. When the mercury started climbing, Tennessean bosses brought out fans, electing not to fix the AC until the fall, when repair prices are cheaper.
One of the more depressing aspects of all this is that Wall Street seems to have responded favorably to the news of company-wide cuts. Gannett's share price rose 11 percent the day the layoffs were announced, the only bright spot for a company that has seen its value plummet 60 percent this year. That’s the cold, green logic of capital markets for ya’. I’m sure none of this will affect the paper’s ability to cover news in our area, right?
Comments
Sooo... When are you guys going to break the news about Matt Pulle quitting in a huff?
Posted 08/15/2008 at 01:43:33 PMActually, Matt did not quit "in a huff." He is still at the Scene but has been thinking for several weeks now about doing something different, on the theory that the new editor might want to pick his own No. 2. Matt's on vacation in Florida this week and has a number of promising career leads.
You'll still be able to see him at a Starbucks near you.
Posted 08/15/2008 at 02:50:39 PMre Matt
I'm sure you will still be able to find someone to harp on the same tired stuff over and over again and summarize articles from other newspapers around the country. Keep it real.
I am typing 'airplane' in the box below now (required).
Posted 08/15/2008 at 09:31:06 PMDoes that mean that Matt did his Rick Barnhardt blog entry from Florida. He must be dedicated. I wish him good luck in finding another job.
Posted 08/17/2008 at 10:37:30 PMI am no fan of the Tennessean but this constant sniping at them and smirking about them is getting tiresome.
I've a news bulletin for you Scene staffers:
You aren't any better at doing what you do than the folks at 1100 Broadway are at doing what they do.
Posted 08/18/2008 at 06:57:13 AMMaybe the new editor wants someone working for him who doesn't always have a mean or sour take on news here, and who is capable of even-handed, non-self-defensive reactions to any criticism.
The Scene has suffered since the departure of the dynamic duo of Albie Del Favaro and Bruce Dobie. Rather than trying to be a daily paper, I'd appreciate it if the Scene would focus henceforth on being a good weekly.
Posted 08/18/2008 at 10:02:45 AMBelieve me, Gilbert, the Scene is much better at its job than the Tennessean. (Not that the Tennessean sets a very high bar, but still...)
I do agree with you that it gets tiresome to see the constant sniping about the business doings at the Tennessean. It makes the Scene look like it has an inferiority complex.
Pick your moments for criticism, fellas, and then let Gannett have it. God knows they deserve it. But you dilute your impact when you hammer them on something relatively minor. Also, it's probably a good idea to hold off on hammering them as a chain paper with no local ownership and few local roots when that is basically what the Scene has become.
Posted 08/18/2008 at 03:54:25 PM"Believe me, Gilbert, the Scene is much better at its job than the Tennessean."
No I don't believe you.
Posted 08/18/2008 at 09:26:48 PMI understand some of your comments on here,although I must say that the Tennessean is a very diversified group of hard working people who show up everyday and bust there ass. We will not go no where we are here to stay.
Posted 11/10/2008 at 04:08:17 PM