Big Cuts in Planning at Plain Dealer
The newspaper business, as readers here probably know, isn’t what it used to be.
The economic crisis for newspapers now will be felt strongly in Cleveland.
Top Plain Dealer executives – Publisher Terry Egger and Editor Susan Goldberg - told worried editorial staff members yesterday that the business climate is so bad that the paper plans to cut 35 pages a week from its news pages and 20 percent of its workforce.
Egger said they were looking at “drastic changes,” according to PD reporters.
That’s 35 pages of less news every week or 1,820 pages a year for readers of Cleveland's only daily newspaper.
A day ago the Tribune Company announced it would chop 500 pages a week from its newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant and others. The New York Times reported that it could mean 82 pages a day cut from the L. A. Times.
The plan has to be approved by Advance publications, owned by the Newhouse family, Plain Dealer owners.
A newspaper price increase is also contemplated.
The paper has already lost some 17 percent of its editorial staff after a recent buyout.
The paper will reduce its op-ed pages from two to one; stock tables will be gone. There will be no business pages on Monday and special sports sections will be eliminated.
This cannot mean anything good to those who already find the newspaper lacking in its coverage.
Its a Rag Anyway
I still bought it, despite it being so poor. Looks like those days are over
More for Less?
Price increase so we pay more for less? Who is the economic genius that came up with this plan? You need to give readers what the surveys you take show they want: local news. Local city hall, local crime, local trials, local courts (bankruptcy, family and divorce.). It should be back to the basics for newspapers these days, an end to the fluffy features that don't say anything, an end to trend stories that are just sham advertisements. Forget about Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan because we can get them on the Internet in much more interesting displays than you will ever publish. No more short and cute, but in depth look at Cleveland.
More for Less?
Mr. or Ms. Guest @2:54pm6/10 -- You are exactly right. They need to cover cops, courts, and city hall. It's a radical plan -- all newspapers used to do it, but hardly any bother to do it now. I bet you used to be in the newspaper business yourself, as did I. Don't miss working there, do miss having a decent paper to read.
One Newspaper town
You guys are jerks. Try living in Lorain where your "local" paper ownership doesn't give a crap about the community. We get better coverage from The PD at meetings and events than we do from the Journal. I give props to The PD newsroom any day.
One Newspaper town
FYI, your "local" paper ownership is the infamous Journal Register Co., one of--if not the worst newspaper groups in the industry. At its sister paper in Lake County, word is that all the delivery truck drivers were fired with the possibility of being rehired as a part-timer further hurts the "local" paper and the local economy. You wanna see what a terrible group it is, google the parent company to see what a terrible company it is.
Incidentally, Lorain's "customer service" department has been forwarded to the News-Herald's office. Their paper is being printed at the News-Herald and has been for a number of months. This shut down the Lorain Journal's press room & mail room.
Terrible company, folks, terrible....
They need MORE LOCAL content
They need MORE LOCAL content MORE editorial pages about LOCAL issues. That's the niche. Local, local, local. I don't want rehash of the national/world stuff I can get from a better source on the net.
On Sunday, I want to read magazine length articles about local issues.
With the internet, we can
With the internet, we can read online papers like the times (both NY and LA) and the Washington Post...Papers with backbone.... The PD is one step above a rag.....
I love it when editors like
I love it when editors like Susan Goldberg show off their mansions and hoard of designer shoes, then tell staffers that they're fired for economic reasons.
Susan's mansion
Susan Goldberg lives in a very ordinary house on Fairmount Boulevard, across the street from St. James Episcopal Church (and also across the street that used to be the home of Emerson Batdorff).
If you want to smear her, at least you might try sticking to the facts.
She shows off her "hoard of
She shows off her "hoard of designer shoes." Say what??? If that post is indicative of the intelligence in today's society, then maybe we really don't need daily newspapers with real paper and real newsprint anymore. Perhaps just a simple foot fetish weekly periodical will suffice.
So easy to bash....
It' so easy to bash the paper when it's not your job on the line. Think about all the employees who are now worried about their jobs. Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. But, is everyone willing to lose another local operation? How many things are affected by the loss of the newspaper? We can read all we want on the internet, bottom line...the story still starts with a reporter and a pen. You get rid of all of that and your internet information becomes smaller and smaller. No one like everything they read, that's because it this great nation, we are entitled to our thoughts. Our beliefs cloud our perceptions of stories and so of course we believe something is slanted, or best said for the other side. Cutting jobs, losing businesses in this city is not a good thing for anyone. There is a bigger picture here....where is our economy headed???
Newspaper owners are idiots. ...
... Granted, the landscape is changing with the Interent, etc. But most people who own newspapers, I have found, are absolute moons. By rule, about a decade ago, owners started deciding what should and should and be printed. That, more than anything, has led to the demise of papers.
newspaper carriers feel the hit and will there be more?
with the increase in gas and a decrease in our earnings and very little in the way of tips.. they might end up not having anyone to deliver their papers. The paper carrier is a vital link to the subscriber so why do they not care about our expenses. They need to get rid of a lot of unneeded depot staff and cut back on the employees health benefits (carriers don't get any). They should do a lot more local news and save the world news for TV or the internet where it is more up to date. The morning paper is basically yesterdays news.
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