Wicked And Evil - But True!

The Daily Show paid a visit to the New York Times this week, and in the course of five minutes of irony, sarcasm, silliness and satire, proved the case that newspapers are headed for the graveyard...

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There's Stubborn... And Then There's Stupid.

Newspaper Guild employees at the Boston Globe have, by a narrow vote, rejected a request by the paper's owner, the New York Times, to accept a new contract that would have included an 8.3 percent wage cut, five-day unpaid furloughs and cuts in health care benefits, 401(k) contributions and pensions. It also would have eliminated lifetime job guarantees for 190 Guild workers, which were negotiated in 1994.

Now that the request has been rejected, the Globe says it will impose an across-the-board pay cut of 23 percent for all Guild workers, a move that the union promises to sue over. The Globe says the 23 percent cut will achieve the 10 million dollar cut it needs to keep the paper from folding altogether.

I hate to take the side of management, but what are these union workers thinking? The Boston Globe lost 85 million dollars last year, and the New York Times, by itself, lost 75 million. Newspapers are not charities. Shareholders are not going to suffer losses just to keep newspaper reporters and editors employed. I agree that pay cuts and furloughs suck, but what is the alternative?

As I have written several times here, newspapers are dying. The cancer is terminal... it's just a matter of how long the patient can linger. By refusing to play along with management, the Newspaper Guild may have just unwittingly committed euthanasia in Boston.

Those workers say they won't go down without a fight. But they are still going down.

More Happy Media News!

Because I haven't been bleak enough for you lately vis a vis the state of the media business...

Here are just a few headlines from TODAY (and there were just as many yesterday and there will be more tomorrow!):

The New York Times is mortgaging its flagship building in New York in a bid to raise more money (and stay afloat).

The Tribune Corporation, owner of Tribune newspapers (including the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and the Baltimore Sun), Superstation WGN-TV, the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Jeff Zucker, the chief executive at NBC, says things are so bad there that NBC is considering shrinking prime time programming to perhaps two hours a night, and perhaps fewer than seven nights a week.

And to me, this is the biggest downer of all. The Pulitzer Prize has created a category for web-only news organizations, and it cannot say whether gossipy news-ish sites like Drudge and the Huffington Post would qualify!

Finally, if this is actually enough to fatally wound any of my fellow media friends, I happily refer you to my sister's blog, where she has compiled some thrifty tips for your funeral. Every penny counts these days, ya know!

What To Say To A Jobless Person.

My sister, Jill, sent me an excellent article from the New York Times discussing the conundrum of how to converse with the growing number of people who are being laid off from their jobs. You can read the entire article here, but here's an excerpt:

American companies have shed 240,000 jobs in the first three months of the year, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Business-page headlines announce layoffs by the thousands at major American corporations: 2,000 at AOL, 5,000 at Morgan Stanley, 4,000 at Merrill Lynch.

Despite the pervasiveness of the cuts, many people contacted for this article were unwilling to speak for attribution, citing confidentiality agreements or, simply, embarrassment.
In general, middle-aged professionals seem more anxious and demoralized than younger ones; men tend to be more buttoned-up than women.

When Janette La Vigne, an insurance company executive from Clinton Township, N.J., was laid off 10 days ago, she immediately told fellow lacrosse moms. The women were empathetic and bracing, particularly those whose husbands had been through layoffs, said Ms. La Vigne, who had been with the same company for 21 years.

“But the guys are speechless,” she said. “They don’t know how to handle it. Their body language says, ‘Eww, I’m so glad I’m not you right now.’ ”

Those on the sidelines are also uncomfortable, fumbling for a protocol, an etiquette to support their struggling neighbors, while also respecting their dignity. “As this has become more prolonged, friends are pulling away, probably because they think we can’t afford to go out with them,” said the wife of a former executive at a national apparel company, who asked for anonymity because the couple’s friendships have become strained. “They mean well. But I wish they would give us that option.”

Deborah Tannen, a linguistics professor at Georgetown, explained the inarticulateness of the well-intentioned. “People feel caught between two conflicting concerns,” said Dr. Tannen, the author of “You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation.” “You’re caught between the need to show you care and the fear of offending because you’re reminding them of something painful.”

I have to say that I was never embarrassed about losing my job. I told my wife on day one that I did nothing wrong, and that frankly, my bosses were more embarrassed about letting me go after 25 years than I was for being out of work. It's pretty clear from the tone of my blog that I have no problem discussing what happened.

That doesn't mean I WANT to discuss it with everyone. Last week, when I arrived at my son's daycare center to get him after school ( yes, we still have him in aftercare - it's a lifestyle choice to accomodate Spencer , and no, jobless people don't just go broke in a day!), one of my neighbors saw me and called out, "How's the job search going?"... This is in a parking lot with people walking by. "You know, I know a lot of people in my business... Maybe one of them can help you get a job!" I know the guy was just trying to be helpful, but I barely know the man. I have no idea how he even knew I am unemployed. I certainly didn't need him broadcasting my situation to the world, and I CERTAINLY didn't feel obligated to discuss it with him!

I have found that people DO want to be helpful, but by and large they have no idea HOW. The best advice I can give you to help me is to be DISCREET and CONCRETE. I greatly appreciate everyone's good thoughts and wishes, and I greatly appreciate any and all job tips. But please don't shout out your thoughts across a parking lot, and PLEASE don't ask me to call a friend of a friend who's not in the radio business about a job that may or may not exist.

When you lose your job, I'll be happy to do the same for you!