Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Globe officials stonewall KOAM attempt to get the story

Except for items on this blog, only one media outlet, KOAM, has pursued the story of last Thursday's firings at the Joplin Globe, and as you might expect, Globe officials, the same ones who so self-righteously rip any public officials who won't talk to them, remained silent:

The Joplin Globe has laid off several employees. We spoke to several of the former employees, and one of them said as many as 22 people were laid off.

However, the Globe has not* confirmed that number, or given a reason for any layoffs.

One former employee, Ryan Atkinson, says he holds no ill will toward the paper, and says he was not given a specific reason why he was let go.

"I can't say I know an official reasoning, just given the current state of the economy and specifically the state of the newspaper industry," Atkinson said. "I can't say it was a big surprise, but I'm guessing just the hardships of the economy and the industry."

Our calls to the publisher of the Joplin Globe and its parent company for comment were not returned.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many of these former employees had run-ins with their superiors - and probably forever deemed expendable after that.

Anonymous said...

Ryan Atkinson hit the nail on the head. The entire newspaper industry in in serious decline. But this decline came long before the current economic problem. Of course, a bad economy means less advertising, and will just hasten the decline. But anyone in print media who doesn't have an updated resume is a fool.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003878037

Zach said...

Not sure it has anything to do with that. Newspapers grew too big for their own good during the last boom, and now they're paying for it. I know several editors at the Globe, and my guess would be they at the Globe hated this decision, but CNHI is full of scumbags who somehow see reason in cutting jobs and then not even letting people know they did it.

Anonymous said...

Here's the memo the publisher of the News-Leader sent to staff today concerning the 10% Gannett cutbacks. Notice the interest in selling ads for the Christmas season, while staffers had today -- and today only -- to decide their own fate.

"You all received by now Bob Dickey’s note about our need for an involuntary layoff of 10% to adjust our expense to match weaker revenues due to the declining economy. Several employees have asked if we would consider them for the severance package. If you wish to leave and want consideration for the severance package we will give to severed employees, you should talk with your department head so as they work through their adjustments to the department they are aware of your interest. Since we are moving very quickly to get this behind us so we can focus on our customers and business during their busy holiday sales season, you should let your department manager know by the end of business today. If you need help understanding how your other benefits would be affected, please see HR."