Hard to believe The Post (which has never offered buy-outs before) needs to lay anyone off in the newsroom after looking at this list. The Post had such a huge number of lifers -- people on this list have more than 30 years there! -- that Cox should be saving a bundle on newsroom salaries after this. Some are great losses to the newsroom, others are waaaay past their prime, which was never very prime in the first place.

My best is that at that after 130 they will hire younger cheaper replacements for at least a few jobs.

A Sun-Sentinel update: The newspaper has accepted the offers of the newsroom staff members who volunteered to be laid off, a number reported to be between 20 and 30. They were sent e-mails this week and told to show up for a mandatory meeting with human resources people on July 25. A good guesser would say that the involuntary layoffs will happen around the same time.

So 300 -- THREE HUNDRED people -- will leave a paper of the PB Post's size and it's STILL not enough? It's staggering for me to ponder that somewhere someone thought it was perfectly OK to run a business so deeply into the ground where it's necessary to get rid of 300 workers in one fell swoop and hey wait -- we need to get rid of more! It's not like newspaper revenues tanked overnight.

ohmygod .. I know so many of these people, I cannot imagine who is left to keep the ship afloat. My thoughts go out to everyone at The Post.

Why isn't Carolyn DiPaolo on this list?

"Involuntary separations" ... LOL. Why don't they just say "fired?"

Good luck and God bless to all my former colleagues at the Post. I am thinking good thoughts for you all for the future.

Any list of other department's buyouts? How many will go with the consolidation of the Pennysaver and la palma? Any management stepping up or should step up?

HR should take a hit, since there are now 300+ fewer Humans in the building.

So far, many, many flowers among the many weeds being culled.

Anyone notice Dubocq's name isn't on the list, after he said he had a hot job offer from the feds?
As for Dipaolo she's dumb enough to wait to get forced out. Her hiring marked the downturn of the Post's standards.

Heard DeBock is staying put, his job guaranteed by the publisher.

Remember, this isn't a complete list. Just because a name isn't on it doesn't mean that person isn't taking a buyout.

Sure hope Alina Lambiet is on the list.

This is heartbreaking. Such talent and experience. What a loss.
Too bad we'll still be subjected to Leslie Streeter. Sorry but that is NOT journalism.

Important to remember is that this list is only the list of the employees who submitted their forms and who have been approved by the company to take the buyout.

Count on around a dozen or more newsroom personnel to officially decline the final buyout offer made to them on August 11.

Whoa, having worked down that way for years I know of too many names on that list. My heart goes out to all who will be out of jobs.

I recently left Florida for New England, and have been bemoaning the very few jobs available -- figuring I wouldn't have this problem in Florida. Between the PBP, Orlando Sentinel and Sun-Sentinel, I see that's not the case.

My thoughts are with all of these people, many of whom were outstanding contributors to the paper for years. There are names not included who are taking the buyout.
Kinda Crazy mgmt let it get that bad to lay off 300. The ones left are feeling a big hit too. And what about Phil Galewitz?

Scrolling through the names is like reading a casualty list from a natural disaster.

As the onetime PBPost laureate Michael Browning might have said: While bloggers fiddle, Rome burns.

Here's another one that should have come a long time ago: Assistant Business Editor Greg Stepanich.

Despite the unemployment rates, I see lots of high paying journalism, writing, media, publishing and advertising related jobs posted on employment sites:

http://www.realmatch.com
http://www.indeed.com
http://www.simplyhired.com

I see 100K, 150K and 200K jobs here...

Very few Post managers are on this list.

There are one or two Capital E editors thrown into the mix, but not the names of the newsroom execs who caused much of this bloodbath. That shameful list is unfairly weighted with the names of people who's bylines appear on the pages of The Palm Beach Post.

Where's John Bartosek's name?
Didn't he have something to do with the overall administration and direction of the newsroom during the last decade?

Bill Rose?
Isn't the Managing Editor the person who's directly responsible for overseeing the staffing, payroll and budgetary concerns of the newsroom?

Tim Burke?
He was rewarded with a promotion to a VP slot after accomplishing nothing as a hand-picked, up-and-coming Managing Editor in training.

What about the names of anyone who's been a top end manager but hasn't been able to successfully direct the daily operations of the Post or plan for the papers' future?

Management on the editorial side has been gradually driving the paper into the ground for years. That cycle started before there was a real estate market slump or even competition from internet news webpages.

Why is the newsroom staff being forced to pay the full price for this chronic problem?

Isn't there one executive level manager at The Post with enough personal integrity to "voluntarily separate" from the sickening mess that they've created?

It saddens me to the core to see so many talented friends and former colleagues on this list.

To borrow from something Scott Simmons once said to me, it reminds me of a Mahler tune.

SHIT! What were these people making annually? Damn, talk about money in the shredder.

The Tim Burke point is valid. He is a very nice person, in his own right, but he has overseen what can rightly be called one of the worst online news products around and continued to stand by a print mentality for the dotcom offering. Change is sometimes now only good -- it can be a must. I think the Post website needs an entirely new team and new direction.

And what of Jan Tuckwood?
If PaperBoy wants to talk about lifers who should go to make way for fresh new air in the newsroom, she certainly should top that list. Her dynamic days are gone and Accent (and now the homepaeg) is filled with content I can get in much more detail on numerous other sites, like Dlisted, Mollygood, PopSugar, Jossip, Stereohyped and more.

However, with regard to a comment from PaperBoy on one other issue -- someone with 30 years history isn't necessarily dead weight. Some - yes. All? No.
This can be said of any company or, perhaps, every company. But with some of them go knowledge and skill that many of today's young journos lack and could benefit from having around.

These 'separations' are never pleasant. They are, however, usually primarily about numbers - business - bottom lines. They have to be and it's quite understandable and natural.
However, the stunning lack of management on the list above indicates it may actually be personal at the Post -- at least for Management.

What's to manage when only managers are left?

WTF? When 300 people get laid off at a steel mill or a paper factory, it's just another story ot it's the "changing economy." But when it happens at a middle-market newspaper -- oops, I mean the august, should-have-won-a-Pulitzer Palm Beach Post -- it's a tragedy of Shakesperian proportions,a travesty, an outrage.

What a bunch of whiny, selfish pukes! Welcome to the REAL world -- where people dust themselves off and carry on after a job layoff. You all should have shown so much sympathy when the average man gets laid off. Maybe that's why they call it the elite, liberal media.

um..it's a media blog. Do you go to knitting blogs and wonder why they aren't talking about baseball?

Yo Pulpster: The 300-person brain drain is surely bad enough, but you should definitely get a copy of Saturday's newspaper to get a real impression of what Doug Franklin's Palm Beach Post is going to look like.

Flip to pages 6 and 7 in the A section and you'll find a color Land Rover ad running down the gutter between the two pages. A huge image of the vehicle itself juts out from the ad into the middle of the news copy. On both sides.

Words don't really describe it well but the visual message is overpowering: A desperate grab for short-term profit dominates this newspaper now. The readers will have to settle for whatever news we can cram into the space around the ads, written by however little staff we have left.

This is the print equivalent of those annoying web ads that crawl, sprawl, unfurl and growl their way across the page. Franklin says he loves those too.

To No Whining:
While it is tragic when there are layoffs at a papermill or factory, it is a little different in journalism.

These are people who went to college to learn the trade. They had a passion and drive to become journalists who generally work odd, unpredictable hours and have an affinity to know a little about a lot of things. Street reporters, while they have beats, are generalists and it takes a lot of skill to be willing to learn something different almost every day.

Those who work in factories are generally unskilled laborers who took the job because it's a job, not a career or a passion.

It is true, though, that both sets of laid-off workers -- journalists and factory workers -- must face the unpleasant reality of finding new job prospects.

I think for those who felt like they did a job for the greater good (journalism), have a tougher time facing that reality. For some, it is the only thing they ever wanted to do.

I don't think people aspire to spend their lives at a factory.

To No Whining:
While it is tragic when there are layoffs at a papermill or factory, it is a little different in journalism.

These are people who went to college to learn the trade. They had a passion and drive to become journalists who generally work odd, unpredictable hours and have an affinity to know a little about a lot of things. Street reporters, while they have beats, are generalists and it takes a lot of skill to be willing to learn something different almost every day.

Those who work in factories are generally unskilled laborers who took the job because it's a job, not a career or a passion.

It is true, though, that both sets of laid-off workers -- journalists and factory workers -- must face the unpleasant reality of finding new job prospects.

I think for those who felt like they did a job for the greater good (journalism), have a tougher time facing that reality. For some, it is the only thing they ever wanted to do.

I don't think people aspire to spend their lives at a factory.

"you don't understand".... your comments are unbelievably condescending. Many blue collar workers have a passion for what they do, often entering their trade because that's what their parents and grandparents did.
To think that journalists deserve more sympathy just because we went to college is bullshit. (And let me add that many journos come to realize after a couple yrs in the biz that they would have been better off in majoring in something else since much of the craft is learned by experience rather than in a classroom.)
Us journos have such an advantage in this job market if we get laid off, unlike many blue collar workers. Journos have the option of moving into pr, advertising or government, not to mention the countless other opportunities gleaned from sources.
What's happening to our industry definitely does suck, but let's not make it seem like it's the end of the world for the folks who get laid off.
All of you will be just fine, maybe not right away, but everything you have seen and experienced in this job should have taught you how to cope and adapt.

I've seen similar ads for years on the pages of New York Times, Wall Street Journal etc. Probably better to worry about the LACK of advertising and 6 and 8 page sections. Grab for shortterm profits? You newsroom MBAs are CRAZY if you think any paper in this real estate cesspool is still in the black. Haven't you noticed how thin the papers are these days? No ads, no money, no bloated newsroom, no more overpaid and underworked reporters bitching all day instead of working.

So what's this about people being frog-marched out of the Sun-Sentinel building yesterday?

To terciopelo;

The Sun-Sentinel has been running ads like that for months.

What kind of manager THANK people like Wright, Cramer, Cooper, Susman, McGinnes, Swartz, Taylor -- for leaving?!
How can Bill Rose and John Bartosek hold their heads up and continue to head a newspaper they destroyed?

To "You Don't Understand":

I'll bet -- and I hope -- that plumber who comes to his house is secretly laughing his ass off at people like you as he charges $75 or more an hour -- far more than you'll ever make in journalism. I hope every tradesman and blue-collar worker who has to fix your water heater in the middle of the night, repair your roof after a hurricane or your car and anyone else who has to generally help your "college educated" self who "knows a little about everything" is gouging you for everything they can get and laughing about it afterwards.

What a smug, pathetic and condescending attitude.

http://bannedindc.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/snapshot-from-a-dying-business/

To Puleez and Unbelievable,

I wasn't being condescending. You missed my point: that many journalists go into the field because they have a passion for doing what they do. The college education part is part of that entree, just like going to trade school or being apprentices in blue-collar fields.

My opinion is viewed through the prism of my family: they looked at their work as a job, not a profession. And I never saw them looking at it as a passion.

My father was a union-steward machinist who worked at General Electric. After he died in 1985 (at age 58), my mother got the life insurance money, which was twice his annual salary. I was shocked to see that it came to $50,000. $25,000 a year? Even in 1985, that was pretty crappy.

His dad was a butcher and my other grandpa a lathe operator. I come from a family of laborers.

The thing they wanted for me: to get a college education and do better than them. I am the first one in my family to graduate from college.

Whether I actually did end up better than them is subjective. But, I managed to make my dad proud before he died.

A few years ago, at age 40, I left the profession because I wanted to try something else. And I didn't go into a related field, nor did I use contacts from my job as a reporter to get where I am now. I got there on my own volition, which was a fairly painful, bumpy road.

I didn't mean that it's more of a tragedy for journalists to get laid off. The tragedy in all of this is workers -- be it laborers or journalists -- will have to figure out a new track for their lives.

Sometimes that passion for doing what one does blinds them to the possibility that they should have a diverse set of skills. I don't think journalists ever thought their skills would become obsolete.

I think it's equally as "tragic" for a blue collar worker vs reporters to get laid off. The difference, in the context of this blog is that this isn't a blog about working at a steel mill. Hence, no postings about job losses at steel mills because it would be irrelevant.

Now, if you mean that reporters trivialize the loss of jobs in steel mills versus the loss of jobs in journalism, most of the articles published in the newspaper about layoffs at papers aren't written any more tiny little violin weeping the worlds saddest little song than any other stories.

I'm in shock. Don Wright going? It's not just the end of The Post, it's the end of the world.

any and all the people who work at night on the sports/news copy desks and the like? Anyone know who's taken the buyout from those shifts?

What is the upside to losing people with 30+ years in the business? Does that mean, in a couple years, we will have new journalists coming up through the ranks?

The downside to folks living longer and having to work longer until retirement is that the workforce is aging and there isn't enough fresh blood coming through the doors. Will this forced flush eventually open doors for younger people who have been unable to find positions at newspapers?

On the other hand, not even death shook loose the newspaper status quo as evidenced by Dear Abby and Peanuts still going strong.

{sigh}

About 10 people on the news desk have applied for the buyouts, including Sabrina Starrett, Jay Rose, Rod Millie, Rich Dirks, George Primm, Gary Brown, Liz Reilly and Mike Tighe. Most of the features desk, including features copy chief Mike Burke, has applied, with the expection of a few, and many on the sports desk have applied as well.

I've also heard that Tom DuBocq applied but is waiting until the August deadline to see if he can line up other work before deciding whether or not to take it.

Of course, we won't know until August 11-12 who's actually going through with it, so just because they applied/are on the list doesn't necessarily mean they're leaving.

I don't know where the 81 number came from, since there was an e-mail sent around last Friday morning saying 88 from the newsroom applied, and the deadline was 5 p.m. that day. Since then, I've heard "more than 100" applied and I've heard the number 121 floated around, although JBart and Doug have refused to confirm an exact number, saying in a meeting today that too much information too soon will cause "chaos." I bet if it was one of them at risk of getting laid off, they'd want things to be as chaotic as possible ...

Well said, Dan Liftman. If you look at the people who were promised they would be safe if they stayed -- i.e. Scott Eyman, Tom Dubocq .. . why isn't Wright among them?
Or Cramer, or Cooper . . .
Let's count the number of minority reporters left at the Post -- whoops! there aren't any.

Scott Eyman is safe? He who writes books on company time, travels at his convenience to promote those books and turns in copy so bloated that A&E Editor Larry Aydlette just shovels it through without a glance? Guess it can't hurt that Eyman's wife is newsroom director of administration.

Aside from Rose, Burke and JBart, nobody has been promised they will be safe if they turn down the buyout.

Please stop the paranoia and sniping. It's bad for us all. It reminds me of a toddler who thinks the other kid's cookie is bigger.

Scott's a great talent and has been a great mentor to many journalists here. When it's time to find an agent for your book idea, I guarantee you'll want him on your side, Dixie.

By the way, kudos to HR for planning a career-transition workshop. That's a nice touch. Other workshop topics that would be helpful: Health insurance options for individuals that cost less than COBRA. (Check out Blue Cross. Better yet, invite them in to give us a presentation.)

Financial survival during cash-flow freefall - aka how to survive layoffs during a near depression - would be a nice touch, too. Are there things we can do to protect our credit rating? Renegotiate our debt? How about some strategies we haven't thought about?

Also see today's Wall Street Journal for good tips on what to do before the layoffs.

("Storming out might be your first instinct, but hanging around the office to negotiate the terms of your departure could result in a better severance package...")

And thanks to the financial and legal professionals out there - like Richard Rampell in Palm Beach - who have donated time to advise many soon-to-be-former journalists. Compassion shown during hard times will be remembered and appreciated.

Meanwhile, anybody have any tips on how to grow our own vegetables and catch fish off the Lake Worth pier? Don't laugh. I'm thinking about it....The University of Florida has good information on its ag web site for fighting off nematodes and so on.

Best of luck, everyone. Our grandparents survived the the Great Depression and WWII. Their parents lived through the industrial revolution. We'll make it through this time, too. All for one and one for all.

Worker Bee, you're a joke. "All for one and one for all"? What a sap. Go bait a hook with the frame of your rose-colored glasses.

worker bee...hope you're not planning on turning down cobra, esp. if you have a pre-existing condition. all those workshops you think the company should lovingly provide for you? You better figure it out for yourself cause no one's gonna treat you like a child after you lose your job.

To Anonymous & worker bee;
If/when you leave, or do it now, ask HR about a HIPAA Certificate (maybe from Aetna). This certificate states that you and your 'condition' were covered under a health plan. A new employer should not deny you coverage with this certificate. They could, however, make you wait a longer period of time to be covered. Ask HR or AETNA asap.
Hope this helps. :-)

Some people who said they were going to accept the buyouts are being quietly asked to change their minds.

are they being offered any incentives to stay such as a boost in pay, more vacation, etc.?

Seems like a tough sell to make if all they using is the word "please" as half the newsroom walks out the door...

Seems circulation has been quiet since the Boca/Delray closing announcement. They have 12 days left until Sun Sentinel starts delivery. That's probably about 10 staff and 40 'independent contractors', who are not included in the job cuts, layoff, or buyout figures.
State centers apparently had meetings Monday. The St. Lucie center will close mid-September and Scripps Treasure Coast will deliver Post products. They probably have 6 staff and 35 'independent contractors'. The Martin County center will close, but no date was given as talks with Scripps continue there, but probably before the holiday season begins. That's probably another 10 staff and 45 contractors.
That totals about 120 contractors. Remember, the contractors are 'independent' and are not employees. They have no benefits and no buyout packages. However, the Post is giving them a 'bonus' amount if they stay until the last delivery, $200 per route we heard. Better than nothing and they are getting almost 2 months notice.
So it's not just about the departments who work in the big air conditioned building in West Palm. It's also about the hundreds of contractors that the deliver the Post in the middle of the night thru rain, hurricanes, cold, and high gas prices, for who this is a second job just to make ends meet. They had nothing to do with the overstaffed departments, advertising or editorial blunders everyone seems to be crying about. The bottom of the food chain is suffering from others mistakes. That's what the executives should be ashamed about!

This ain't childhood and it ain't about cookies, worker bee. It's about people who gave good value to the post and who now are wondering how they're going to pay their kid's college tuition. It's about the Post going whiter and less relevant. It's about people managing a business in which truth is supposed to be important not giving straight answers.
And no, worker bee, you shmuck, the managers you named were not told they were safe, they were told they could not apply for the buyout. That was so they could help pick who would stay.
Duh.
God help you in the job market, worker bee

Who do I need to write to offer up some names of posties we would like to see gone? i can think of some right now-- how about Randy and Joel. These two are so full of themselves they never let the facts get in the way of a good column. They never check the facts by consulting with any of the reporters, to both of them lets say Good Riddance.

I think I need to post here, I am a psl carrier and what they are doing is BS offering us 200.00 to stay? they are offering the buyouts 6k I heard 200 doesnt even pay a light bill. and giving it to scripps? now they have another alternate product 8cents a paper.. what a crock of crap some of us carriers have been there for years.. I think the only job that should be cut is doug franklin's, since he is the cause of this mess!!

I think I need to post here, I am a psl carrier and what they are doing is BS offering us 200.00 to stay? they are offering the buyouts 6k I heard 200 doesnt even pay a light bill. and giving it to scripps? now they have another alternate product 8cents a paper.. what a crock of crap some of us carriers have been there for years.. I think the only job that should be cut is doug franklin's, since he is the cause of this mess!!

Kill me with the "Post going whiter" comment. The buyouts are based on years of service, not color, gender, sexual preference or age. People like you always find a way to make it about race. Enough already.

TO PSL - If it's BS and you don't need the $200, quit! The sooner the better for the rest of us. I'll gladly pick up your route and get another $200! The rumors have been flying for months, so if you diddn't prepare, it's your own fault. They actually gave us 2 months notice also. I actually think the Post & Cox are being pretty fair to everyone, given what everyone else in the news is getting.
If you've been reading the blog, it isn't Franklin's fault. He's just doing the dirty work for Cox. When you go from a profit of $20 milliion to a loss of $20 million in 2 years, somebody wasn't paying attention.

re: Good Riddance comment about Joel and Randy. I never understood the perpetual misunderstanding of the difference between news and opinion writers. Understand this: opinion writers are allowed to give their SLANT to the news of the day. I worked with Joel (I might be given my identity away here)and I can say there may not be a man in Palm Beach County who knows land-use issues better than him. And as for Randy, I've always found him professional and his pieces well-thought out -- even if I disagreed with him on an issue now and then. I've never understood the hatred thrown his way. I tell you the Post would have been much better off with him as executive editor than JBart. Of course, it would have been better with a monkey at the helm, as well, considering.

And as for this nonsense about the facts, I know Joel loved to consult with reporters. It was news-side that gave him flak (DiPaolo, Dubocq to name two) for doing so.

And to offer anybody up for sacrifice with flip comments, one should consider that these are men with families and responsibilities. I don't know who Good Riddance is but he/she doesn't seem too bright. The paper could do well without such idiots and keep two well-seasoned journalists.

Here's an important question that needs to be asked:
Given that the Post's circulation and the amount of daily copy space has dropped dramatically, have rebates/future price cuts in subscription prices and reductions in classified/retail advertising prices been announced or in the plans?
If not, they should be. This clearly is less of a product than it once was when those rates were set when circulation peaked, etc?
My guess is that the Post is having it both ways. They are offering the reader less but charging the same. If so, the reader needs to be heard on this issue.

No one said the Post going whiter was part of a plot, and no one is accusing anyone of targeting any group. But a newspaper should have some staff representation of its demographic -- and no black newsroom staff is not representative.
And, since this seems complicated to You're Imagining Things and Worker Bee -- a newspaper should try to keep institutional knowledge, and the Post is losing almost all.
If that is too complicated for you, you should be quite happy with the new Post.
Idiots.

Worker Bee, You Shmuck: Learn to spell "schmuck" before calling other people idiots.

i is to tell ya bitzhez dat i gots da voice 4 palm beach - dat riveria beach mutafucka n dont u 4get.

pbni be frontin wit us hoes

To Post-Postie
You are half correct in trying to describe what an opinion piece/column is to a novice in the journalism. All columns are editorials of course and opinion is the largest part of the column. However, all columns or opinion pieces should be based on a set of facts pertaining to the subject.
I, too, have noticed that the Opinion section often has based their opinions on what ultimately turn out to be fact errors. Rarely, if ever, are these corrected on Page 2A, as they should be. There could be several reasons for this: The Writers are sloppy and believe that they can play with the facts of a subject solely because it is an opinion piece. But all in all, it is still lazy journalism.
For example, I can write that "I believe that Lois Frankel is a lousy mayor because she has wasted $100 million of taxpayers' money." The first part is an opinion. The second part of the sentence is supposed to be a fact. In the Post's Opinion pages, that second part often is incorrect, rendering the first part highly questionable. Get it?

The list so far is 51 people who probably will take the buyout.

We've been told that the newsroom needs to lose roughly 130 people in total.

So The Post is going to cut about 80 more people out of the newsroom before this is over.

I'm not yet convinced that anyone at The Post who's being allowed to keep their job is getting the better end of this deal.

The unofficial word is that 107 people applied for the buyout, not 51, and almost every one of those that I know intends to take it. Some wish they could be gone yesterday.

A little less than half of the newsroom's 30 vacant positions will also count toward the 130. So we're certainly not talking about the Post cutting 80 more people unless a lot of those who applied for buyouts back out in two weeks.

This time, anyway.

As for this question: "Given that the Post's circulation and the amount of daily copy space has dropped dramatically, have rebates/future price cuts in subscription prices and reductions in classified/retail advertising prices been announced or in the plans?"

I believe the short answer is: "No."

The PB Post ran advertising on the op-ed page this week. Did these people take journalism 101. Since the Real estate market tapped out they've been trying their best to write about "OK THIS IS IT THIS IS THE Bottom...Honest this is IT. Now come on and buy real estate advertising by the pound just like before. No column inch sales. Real estate by the pound.
The next nail is sending Cerabino around with a video camera to post on the PB Post web site. Yo there is a reason some people write and some people are on TV. IT doesn't make the translation. This Amazon Kindle intrigues me. i think Ill go buy some more EK puts.