Updated: More Layoffs Today at the Post

By Bob Norman Fri., Sep. 4 2009 at 9:23 AM

After months or "reorganizing," the rubber hits the road today at the Palm Beach Post. By the end of working hours, some 20 newsroom staffers will be gone in the latest round of buyouts/layoffs.

Some have already packed their bags and taken the reduced severance package. Award-winning feature writer Christine Evans left on her own volition recently and is now teaching at a private school. Photo Editor Pete Cross took the buyout early as well. So did Deputy Metro Editor Maria Garcia. A few copyeditors were given the heave-ho last night.

Updated: Resigning and taking the package is Assistant Metro Editor Alina Lambiet, who refused the "culture editor" job offered her in the reorganization. Notified today that her position was being cut was reporter Christina DeNardo. I will update as the day goes along and have been told that notifications will be finished in early afternoon.

This latest round of layoffs will bring the newsroom total to under 150 from a high of about 320 at one time. I'll update this post as news comes in.

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You must be so relieved that you are not as on the same publicity level as Tiger Woods -could you imigine...
I was laid-off in Spring 2009. I would love to see a complete list of employees laid-off starting in 2008. After many years in Circulation at the Post, I was told to clean-out my desk and leave one morning when a round of 20 lay-offs happened. I did not even get a chance to say goodbye. I was very disappointed with the way it happened to myself and others. So many former and current employees have lost respect of the PBP as well as a majority of it's market. I won't be too sad when the PBP goes under in the near future.
Hide the kids and pets!
It is true. Suzanna Mahler is coming back to WPB!
Recycling. At least the Post is green.
They hired a new assistant sports editor from outside the building also. I think he's a person who worked at The Post for a while once.
Three "new" metro reporters aren't really new. Two come from Neighborhood Post and one was working as an intern.
Suzanna did a good job while she was here. A little arrogant and bossy, but a good reporter. She could bring some needed credibility.
I am a HUGE Mahler and McGuinnes fan! Can't wait to have them run Palm Beach County!!!
Mahler, stay in Chicago and away from Florida. Haven't you caused us enough grief!!
I hear Charles McGuinnes (the best traffic reporter the Post ever had) and Miss Suzanna Mahler former Delray Beach scoop reporter may be joining forces and starting their own publication!!! Joy to the world- Anarchy!
Since its last round of editorial layoffs a few weeks ago The Post has hired at least 3 new full time reporters from the outside to work in the newsroom. Odd since they let go of exactly 3 newsroom reporters in the layoff. Seeing them hire new full time staffers immediately after such a difficult layoff doesn't seem smart legally, but we're not talking about smart people calling the shots at The Post.
I hear Suzanna Mahler, former go-to reporter in Delray, may be coming back.
Certainly puts into perspective that new position of asst. managing editor/chief dish washer.
Emeril, maybe the cooking show is why the Post is seeking food service personnel look under part time: http://hotjobs.palmbeachpost.com/candidates/pbjobs.html
Does anyone here know how many reporters were laid off at the Post this month? Were they all reporters or were editors and photographers let go too? Is half the staff really gone, as indicated in the original post here? That probably explains why there is less and less to read every day...
But the Post now has its own "cooking show" on its website. That has to make up for some of the "content" that was lost.
The honest truth is tough to hear. I'm sure the radio personality making that statement has never liked the Post, but now that statement is very true. How in the world do editors at that paper think they're going to retain or regain even one subscriber with a product like the one they're publishing? And with the recent news about how things are being run on the inside, along with the now former publisher making the paper look really stupid in front of local business leaders, what's going to happen next? If part of the digital operations are being syphoned off to Atlanta, what else can go up there to cut costs?
Here's how one radio personality described the Post: An overpriced, no content paper with mistakes on every page.
Good luck to anyone whose now unemployed after the latest buyouts. There's no good way to make a big company smaller. Is this the end of the layoffs or are there more happening again sometime? If PBNI still can't make a reasonable profit now or soon, what other choice will they have? I've heard rumors about this and we all see what is happening at other papers, but I don't know what to think about The Post.
To Postie: Not quite the way I've heard it. Sounds like most of the development part of things is headed that way, but it'd be almost logistically impossible to run the day-to-day content part from a central location. Of course, ANYONE at the Post needing a meeting like that to start thinking about polishing a resume may be beyond help. It's very simple: No one is safe at a place that seems to be more and more like working for the CIA, with the complete lack of meaningful communication and the baffling mismanagement decisions being made and often carried out in the dark. Godspeed to all who've been cut loose and increasingly to all those still there and looking over their shoulders.
When so-called professional journalists instantly and openly believe that Tom O'hara would post comments on this blog using his own name, you have to hope that such journalists were among the first of the people who have been eliminated during the past year and a half. I weep for what remains of the Post after this latest downsizing. The end of an era has been reached. I'm not doing rose colored glasses about The Post, don't get me wrong. I left years ago for other reasons. Lots of things weren't as they should have been at The Post. But for a lot of years it was a very good place to be a journalist. As lacking in perfection as that era of the Post was, that time most surely is gone and won't be coming back. Good luck with future endeavors to those of you who've lost jobs there since 2008.
Tom O'Hara did not post here; a poser did, no doubt some layabout wag and former Post "journalist" who is now "sharing a laugh" with a fellow "proactive" "journalist" over his clever riff on The Pulp. Possibly the same canardivore who posted here about 15 months ago. Tom O never heard of The Pulp, departed PB Post years before. That said, the Tom O poser must be surprised to see the heart-felt notes to O'Hara posted here. For indeed, O'Hara was a great editor. Those who seek to assign blame for the Post's downfall might look to HIS editor, Eddie "fourth floor" Sears. Yet, as many have said here, nobody saw it coming (including the fouth floor, and the "journalists" on the second floor who were paid after all to see things coming). Those now-sacked hacks who survived due to O'Hara's benevolent largess should thank him and Cox for not applying the boot to their sorry behinds years earlier. Not doing so might have been O'Hara's only sin, but, as has been noted here, to do so and reduce his own budget would have been folly. Atlanta would have replied, thanks Tom, now do more with less. So the hacks were retained, and festered like bad water. Best of luck to those still at the Post. Don't listen to the BS here.
Seeing Tom O comment hear warms my heart. He hired me and I can say that 10 years ago that working at The Post was mostly a joy with a Fourth Estate mission and a committment to good writing. I remember Tom kept the foundation simple, though: "We sell accurate information to the public." Or something like that. We might as well bring the fat lady on for American newspapers. It's over(Surprisingly, I was in Canada recently and there was some really good journalism being done in the Toronto area papers. Maybe we should get work visas).
Word last week was that all digital operations are being consolidated in Atlanta in the next 6 months to one year. It was hinted at that anyone working for the web should start thinking about polishing their resumes.
There's absolutely no question that most newspapers today adhere to a particular political bent on their news pages. Catering to a niche audience is the only way to survive. Is it a major reason for their downfall? Probably not, but it is still a factor.
Well Just A Hunch, I would say that your response is fair and balanced and perhaps the Post should hire you. Weather I agree with all that you say is not important, what matters is that you artfully managed to incorporate many points of view. Is this too much to ask?
Anyone else doubt that the outraged "Independent" commenter in question is talking about FOX News? Fairness, balance and independent thinking. That's FOX in a nutshell. I agree with the post that said newspaper bias is the least of the ailments killing them now. Have a political bias or don't. Who cares? Charging $2 dollars on Sunday for a thin paper that's made intellectually thinner by padding the various tiny newsholes with useless old-school boilerplate is hurting the paper more than anything else could. Where's the content that you're charging me for? If this is the best The Post (and the others, too) can offer in an attempt to keep me subscribing, then I might as well stop taking the paper now. Maybe the ones who got let go of last week aren't as bad off as the ones who have to stay until the last subscriber cancels.
The one cable news network that tells both sides of the story? I imagine you'll say it's Faux News. Please, go post your silly *independent* rants elsewhere. You've drunk the Kool-Aid, you've swallowed the party line -- you're no Independent. You're the one who needs to do some "researches" [sic] before you start with your tired theories on the newspaper business.
I'm sure that the pervious commenter's version of fair and balanced political coverage includes the full endorsement of every far left liberal candidate currently in office or seeking an office anywhere in the country. When you take the time to strip away all of the monotonous, overly simplistic, infantile layers of the tired far left liberals excuse for poor journalism, that's what you always find underneath. Reality check: Newspapers are losing readers because of their political views to the far left as people are fed up with biased journalism. The only people who do not care about the political stance of printed papers are the far lefts when the paper is far left. Look at the cable news networks that cater to the far lefts and the one cable news network who tells both sides of the story for proof in what I say�look at the ratings! This is a FACT! And believe me when I say the same holds true for news papers. But don�t believe me just carry on with your way of thinking and watch more of your little far left pals go on unemployment. And for the record, if you were capable of comprehending what I wrote above you would see that I am an Independent. Maybe you are unaware of what an Independent is so you may want to spend some time educating yourself before you attack someone in the manner that you did. It just makes you look ignorant. So, please do some researches before you start rambling.
I'm sure that the pervious commenter's version of fair and balanced political coverage includes the full endorsement of every conservative candidate currently in office or seeking an office anywhere in the country. When you take the time to strip away all of the monotonous, overly simplistic, infantile layers of that tired compliant, that's what you always find underneath. Reality check: Newspapers aren't losing readers because of their political views to the left or to the right. Nobody cares about the political stance of printed papers. Their opinions are insignificant. Newspapers are continuing to lose readers and advertisers because printed newspapers are slow, uninteresting, and other mediums now offer the same content in an easier to access way 24/7 and most of the time they offer it for free. Newspapers are a dead medium. No one pays attention to them. They're not going to come back after the economy rebounds. They're time has come and gone. If Rush Limbaugh were a traditional newspaper columnist who didn't broadcast his show on radio, TV, internet and God knows where else - do you really think that anyone outside of a very small circle of middle-aged newspaper subscribers would even know his name? A newspaper published on newsprint and thrown on your doorstep once a day at 6:00 a.m. simply can't reach any significant proportion of the modern media audience.
First let me say I feel for the people who lost their jobs at the post. However, the higher powers that be caused this collapse and job loss. I and many others like me cancelled my subscription during the primaries due to a far left lean and refused to go back. The news was not fair and balanced and now the Post is paying the price as are many other left leaning newspapers across America. There is a yearning for real journalism out here and those who catch on to that will make it. Many of us are Independents and do not wish to have the Posts picks crammed down our throats. I can not speak for the conservatives but think they may feel the same way. If you are far left leaning of course you will disagree as it�s probable you did not notice the unbalanced news. I have heard that at one point after the election the Post made an effort to correct their ways...but it was too late.
I guess I'll get flamed for being a dinosaur, but I must echo that Tom O was an exceptional editor. I was a new reporter working on a huge, very controversial, story many years ago. He came to the bureau to talk about it. I explained my sources and my research and he, in typical Tom O style, said with a grin, "Let's put this in the newspaper." On another major story, design minded folks wanted to convert a color photo to BW so it would look better with another pic on a major 1A package. But the photo was exclusive and the color was important. The desk wouldn't budge. I called Tom at home late in the evening and plead my case. The photo was run in color. He was a reporter's editor and I appreciated that. Thanks Tom. It was fun.
Tom O'Hara was the best newspaper editor in the country. No one else even came close, in my book. And I'll bet he would hate that "Golden Age of Journalism" crap some of you are wailing about. Instead, the example he set said, at least to me: Work hard (TomO was at his desk before most of the rest of us had even turned off our alarms); get it right -- make that extra phone call (whew! a puckering close call that night on the Willie Kennedy Smith rape trial -- but you got it right!) and, oh yeah, have fun.
A 31-year Post subscriber, I canceled my subscription two weeks ago when I realized I could read the paper faster than Alex (now departed seeking even bigger silver spoons) could cross the Intracoastal to pick up his trust fund check when he was a kid holiday-ing in Palm Beach. The Post had already reciprocated -- before the fact, if that's possible -- by canceling my 30-year employment a year ago. I sent a detailed explanation when I canceled, relating the shameful deeds that had turned our once-proud daily newspaper into the Happy Home Page of Paradise. A Post online subscription clerk called me a couple days later to ask if anyone "higher up" had called me about my concerns. "I thought your comments should be read by someone higher up than me," she said. I told her no, that the 4th floor, in fact, did not hold the higher-ups but, rather, the rats. The higher you go in the Post building, with some exceptions on the second floor that really belong up top, the lower a human being you are -- as The Post now relects.
I must say, today's Post was well worth the $1 I spent to buy it.
You people amuse me.
Most people who went to work for the third-rate Post are mediocre journalists at best. Yes, there are exceptions. But few. No matter; the paper will be gone in a couple of years.
@9:48: What the hell are you doing dragging me into this? You obviously don't know me. Listen, I barely have time to do the posts on this thing let alone the comments. Grow some respect and a little sense.
It would seem as if you, too, have chosen to with hold your name from your ranting, rambling post, Mr. or Ms. Keeper of the Faith. You are forgiven. Taking a look at things like an adult, I'd guess that "still pissed" probably isn't associated with any aspect of The Post present or past. That's textbook Rush Limbaugh internet flamer stuff that you're falling for. You are forgiven again.
Still Pissed, your name says it all. You're probably Bob drumming up more emotion, with these ridiculous comments. I'm actually pretty sure you are. If you you're actually a ex postie and are literally taking up your time since last year droning on in this blog, you are a truly pathetic loser. We are going through a tough time, and you're always there with the worst of comments. This paper is not crap and Chuck Gerardi has been with us through thick and thin - through good times and bad and he's always honest, forthcoming and solid. You on the other hand are pathetic and literally name yourself based on yur sadness and your past. Go fuck yourself. If you're going to insult someone publically, give him your name. But then again, this may well be Bob just trying to keep the negativity going. Awaiting the snippy sacrimonious response. Actually, I won't be back. Everyone on this stream who insults people who have been fired and the organization they worked for are cowards if they don't state their name. in the realy world, you get beaten up. If you're Bob, you'll die in hell. If you're not, you'll still die in hell alone with all your sadness.
How many Posties were laid off and who? It's a damn shame.
Gerardi is a puppet and a major asshole to boot. He has no shame. I hope the circulation takes a dive as this is a bad time to be asking people for more money for this rag. I wouldn't wipe my ass with it.
This is part of the process the paper has been going through since the beginning of the year. It was announced in advance, communicated, and executed exactly as we were told. This is what happens when revenues tank. Expenses tank. Don't blame the company, just accept it. The people in charge are making changes that keep the business viable. Is that such a problem? Also, I couldn't agree more that this was a profound and serious day for The Post. If you are a reporter that didn't get the ax, and are sitting in the newsroom right now blogging and insulting your bosses and coworkers (anonymously) you should be ashamed of yourself. Have some respect and be thankful your ass wasn't chopped. We're in a difficult industry and our bosses are trying to save the business. Stop being a saboteur nay-sayer. And if you're at La Palma, Journalista (Claudia) I would be extra respectful. How you made it safely I will never understand. Get back to work and thank your lucky stars your editor respects your paper.
Stop living in the past. It's over. Newspapers have been horribly managed for years. They made money. They're still poorly managed today. Now, they're losing money. So what? Move on. No one could have predicted the kind of unstoppable decline that's happening. Signs of just how bad things have gotten now weren't visible a few years ago, much less 15 years ago. Even if someone had anticipated tough times ahead, they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it - not even if vast amounts of emergency corporate cash had been put aside for a rainy day. The bottom line is that newspapers are not going to be getting any better managed as they continue to atrophy. Dailies aren't dead. They will keep hanging on for quite a while longer yet, but they're not going to look like anything that those of us formerly in the business would recognize. As they change on the outside, so will they change on the inside. Either live with it and stop complaining about it or walk away from it. Any other option will end up being unbearable for everyone involved, including yourself. Accepting that fact can become a healthy motivation for you as you start your search for a new career. Good luck to all who are now finding themselves in that position.
I worked for The Post during the golden years, when it made money for owners and employees, and served the community well. Tom O'Hara and John Bartosek rank up there with the best journalists I worked for. The people they hired were proud of their work and proud of the paper's public service. Changing reading habits, not incompetence or even lack of foresight, ended that golden time. The people of South Florida were served well by The Post and its talented workers, not just those on the editorial side. Those who think reading blogs and surfing the net, for opinions that bolster their own preconceived notions, are missing out on what was a thought-provoking product dropped on their doorstep daily. The Internet and its pseudo-reporting will not keep people as informed as they were when the Herald and Sun-Sentinel and Post were filling pages with informative, thorough and interesting reporting, I'm sad for those laid off. But then I'm sad when all good things fade into history. I hope those who worked at The Post remember the challenges and camaraderie they enjoyed while working hard and enjoying it. Mike Bray
I guess I wasn't a FOS. I had to leave the Sentinel when I couldn't get promoted to full time because of that bitch. I left for a full-time job that I got laid off from two and half years later, and I would do it all over again. I probably would have gotten laid off at the Sentinel anyway, so what the hell.
To "Layoff Victim": There's ALWAYS room at the Sun-Sentinel if they WANT to hire someone. Remember "FOS" (Friend of Sharon)? 'Nuf said
Tom O -- The reason you liked working at The Post is that you never had to work for you.
Move on, people. Yes, journalism created a great camaraderie. But you all are living in the past. If you have been terminated largely because you made too much, find another way to make a living. The problem is that many journalists have few other marketable skills. Develop some. And don't think you can excel at PR. You probably won't. You all are smart and can figure it out. Stop whining. To those who still have jobs at the three papers, hold on to them as long as you can, knowing your day will come, too. Develop a Plan B. The journalism we knew and love is dying faster than anyone could have imagined. It's sad, but it's not the end of your lives. Be resourceful. Think out of the box. And don't encourage your kids to be journalists!
Business 101 needs to retake that course. You're not awarded a budget by Cox or your corporate headquarters. You submit needs, budgets, increases, decreases and employee levels and costs. It is APPROVED by corporate. As a manager, you submit what you believe will help you produce a good, efficient newspaper. No one's goal is to keep 40 or 50 non-performers on the payroll. It's just the opposite -- to hire the best possible people and making sure they perform at a high level. If year after year, your newspaper performs at a level expected by corporate and you present a fine product, you'll continue to make money and remain at that high level. If your plan doesn't work or the economy goes in the tank, you must adjust. You may think that by telling your bosses you couldn't possibly spend the money they want to give you is a great ass-kissing job-saver, but you'd be wrong. You'd be gone in a year or two.
The ignorance in these comments is staggering, but not surprising. Look at the mindset there: If a department has 50 people in it, and 10 of those people do their jobs at a sub-standard level year after year and never show any improvement, then keeping them on staff indefinitely and giving them raises is a perfectly good, if not desirable, management practice as long as the paper makes a profit. If that's not the height of management apathy and down right stupidity, then I don't know what is. Run that strategy past anyone who operates a successful business and they'll laugh in your face. Even if it's 1997 and you're making millions in profits, why would you keep 40 or 50 unnecessary employees on staff at $40k a year? That's at least $1.5 million more dollars on payroll than you need to be spending. The answer from earlier posts seems to be that if the Cox Corp. was willing to approve the budgets all those years, then The Post was in the right to spend all of it. An appropriate word was used in an earlier comment: clueless. You can't live by looking in the rear view mirror. That's good advice. But in order to guarantee success in the future, you have to pay attention to what's happening in front of you today. That's better advice.
If the good old days were so perfect for Tom O'Hara, why did he leave?
to "Give it a rest:" So, let me get this straight, if you were running a newspaper and the owners gave you a specific budget with orders to produce the best possible newspaper you could, you're response would be, "No, I want to save money and give you less than you ask for because I know better!" Guess who would be first out the door? Like any business, the Palm Beach Post had its problems and excesses, but it was a very fine newspaper that MADE GOOD MONEY for all concerned. Living by looking in t he rear view mirror is no way to go through life.
O'Hara reigned toward the end of the golden age of The Post. Most of the remaining worker bees never enjoyed the generous expense accounts and six-figure salaries that Cox once provided its "ace" reporters. Too bad they missed out. Their bitterness is understandable.
I worked for Tom O'Hara during his entire tenure as managing editor of The Palm Beach Post and he never "mandated" that we subscribe. As for the bloated staffs and budgets of the '80s and 90's, well, bloat is relative. When the South Florida papers were flush, they spent a lot of money on staff, travel and projects. Now times are hard--very hard--but a failure to save for that rainy day has nothing to do with it.Medium-sized newspapers like The Post and Sun-Sentinel have been replaced by a medium that is much more efficient and economical. It's really that simple. The Internet delivers news cheaper and faster--but not, alas, more profitably. Yet. In other words, newspapers are typewriters. Stop blaming that overpaid asshole you worked with ten years ago. Hell, he probably thinks you were overpaid, too!
"Clueless" is not clueless. If the staff hadn't been so big, instead of cutting from 300 to 150 in the last few years, the paper would have cut, for example, from 220 to 110. The business model has changed so rapidly, what was done a few years ago is irrelevant.
Let me see if I understand Give it a rest: If the paper had trimmed its staff in the "good old days," Jimmy Kennedy would have salted away the additional profits to save jobs today?
If I'm not mistaken, it's the legacy of the gross managerial shortcomings of the "good old days" that's partially contributed to some of the failures of the "bad new days". One of the problems that The Post has been correcting during the '08 and '09 cuts is the bizarre hiring and retention practices established back in the good old days that contributed to a ridiculously bloated payroll and largely sedentary staff. Maybe if someone in a high-ranking leadership position had the good sense to implement a basic employee performance review system 20 years ago rather than six weeks ago some of the dead weight that had to be eliminated during the last two years would have never made it past their first six months on the job. The paper could have been a more efficient, less costly business to run all along the way. Long live the good old days. Everything was better back when no manager at The Post was held accountable for the productivity level of the employees who they hired and approved for their automatic annual raises.
Hey TomO: I heard "your neighbor" cancelled her subscription recently too. And I bet all these layoffs could have been avoided if Bill Rose would have made it mandatory that all the employees subscribe to the paper like you did. Ahhhhh those were the good ol' days of your leadership. Sigh.
Tom O'Hara here. Sigh. All I can offer is nostalgia. My years at the Post were the most enjoyable of my career. The people were so talented, competitive, congenial (for journalists) and funny. Coming to work was a pleasure. I wish the best for all of you who have endured all this. A special salute for Jbart, a first-class editor and wonderful colleague. tomo
It's good to see one of the three big papers in South Florida putting something back into the paper. Hopefully, it will be able to pay for itself financially so that it doesn't need to get eliminated again after six months. I hope this trend of sections and content returning continues. It's good to hear some encouraging news following last weeks' layoffs.
Layoffs aside, doesn't The Post's resurrected Sunday Business section look absolutely fabulous? A salute to the biz and design staff, and the section's new editor, Carolyn DiPaolo, who is looking pretty fab herself.
Re: the comment by Honesty would help right now Bravo. Perfectly said. If truth and honesty are the hallmarks of your business, how is anyone supposed to believe that when there's such distrust and misinformation inside the building?
How could Alina come back to the Sentinel? Since when are there openings? Does the foreign editor position even exist anymore?
you can have the whiny prima donna
Here's hoping that Alina comes back to the S-S. She was our foreign editor, and ran the 2000 presidential election coverage.
Talk about shock and awe... For all the years I worked in journalism at the Herald, Sentinel, Boca News and Post, I considered the folks I worked with friends. I thought of journalism as a large fraternity and weep for what has become of it. I am embarrassed for my former fellow workers who would use this forum to bash former compadres under the mantle of anonymity, something we would never tolerate in Journalism (note the capital J).
an excellent worker with 20+ years from the library was notified by telephone last night to clean her desk out today.. sweet
I agree with the notion that employees who were laid off at The Post this time deserve a degree of privacy and respect. No one inside the newsroom or outside of the newsroom needs to know every single name right now. But it's only fair to and respectful to the remaining staff to let them know that by the end of Friday night, XX reporters, XX copy editors, XX photographers, XX managers and XX part-timers no longer are a part of the newsroom. Those remaining people who are still willing to put their names in The Post every day deserve to know the basics. Full time employees inside the building still don't know how many of their coworkers in their very own departments have been let go of. They don't even know if this round of layoffs is finally finished yet. Everything was supposed to happen and be done on Friday. Did that happen? No one can tell. If the rumors about this round of layoffs are true - and maybe they're not - but if the rumors are true, then it seems as if the reorganization plan that's been touted for the last several months isn't the same plan that's being put into action now. Business is business, and some personnel issues should be private matters regardless of the industry. No argument there. But it's becoming increasingly more difficult to maintain a serious professional commitment to anything that happens at The Post when this is the way that we're being treated by our own internal management team. These types of business practices also are certain to have a very damaging affect on the Posts' reputation among it's remaining readers and advertisers. Would you take your income taxes to be prepared a CPA who's been highlighted in the local news recently for his shoddy accounting practices? No. And nobody in Palm Beach County would want to be associated with a truth-telling, watchdog organization that withholds basic information from its own employees and keeps them in the dark at such a critical time. Friday marked an unfortunate turning point for The Post.
My best wishes go out to all those let go in this round of cuts at the Post. It can be a rough road out there, folks. It seems the Post is following the philosophy of one of its recent ex-publishers that copy editors are not needed, which those of us in the business know is pure bullshit. But then, he's making the big bucks while the people he tossed out of work are struggling.
If Christina DeNardo and Chris Perkins are truly gone, those ads the Post started running a month or two ago, with pictures of writers to promote their breaking news and sports coverage, looks really unfortunate now. Thoughts go out to everyone losing their jobs. Most didn't deserve it.
Having chosen to leave in the initial round of Zell/Michaels "right-sizing" at the SunSentinel, my thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost their jobs at the Post. I always thought the Post, in its heyday, was one of the top five papers of its size in the country -- a claim that never could've been made at the Sentinel.
I wish all the best to those who are leaving. You will be surprised at how well your skills and work ethic are received in the world outside newspapers. People who can write, work quickly and accurately and are not phased by deadlines are in demand in the workplace. Figure out what you want to do and go do it. Good luck to all. And just as an aside, I'm tired of anonymous comments not just here, but everywhere. Unless you are exposing government corruption or your life is in danger, there is no reason not to be open with your comments and opinions. Anonymously badmouthing former colleagues in a public forum is high school behavior and we are all too old for that. Would you stand on a stage with a paper bag over your head and say the same things? No, because you would look foolish. Well guess what?
The actual cuts are bad enough. Adding to the wound is that most of the people inside the building still have no clue who's gone or whether the cuts are even finished (for this time, anyway). There are people who aren't sure whether others in the same department have been cut. They're learning that sort of info the same way we are -- by reading this blog. Even if the strings on this are being pulled from people in Cox outside the building, that's just not right. Lord help the people gone and anyone still there. This is probably the high point of where things things will be, which is just sad.
What the fuck is it with all this petty backbiting? You want to trash someone, how about attaching your own name to your barely grammatical ramblings as opposed to acting like a gutless, classless coward? Today was a sad, sad day in the Post newsroom. We lost some really talented professionals who had stuck with the paper during trying times, both externally- and self-inflicted. A few of the choices came as a complete shock to many people.
more to come you are so right. Weiss doesn't have an original thought in his head and only does what "they" want. "We have to do it because "they" said so." is his usual response. He's the perfect person to have in charge of this quicky failing enterprise.
Word is more cuts could come in December
More small mindedness to come, Anon. Consider that Burke has positioned Eric Weiss at the newsroom lifeboat's tiller. This is a crustacean whose only known contribution as web coordinator was promoting Bikini Teacher's portfolio. You know, the budding porn star. Weiss couldn't make it in print and he was lackluster in his latest post. Yet he's put in charge of dayside newsroom operations. He is, in short, one creepy bottom feeder. Someone said it before: The living shall envy the dead. Working for Weiss will be like slowly drowning.
The Post made the ridiculous decision to stop covering the Miami Heat, a team with the area's biggest sports star. That cost a great guy and solid pro, Chris Perkins, his job. Small time move by what is now a small time paper.
Wrong info there, my 2 cents. Emily Roach is still here. And that's why you're not a reporter. And if you were, got laid off.
I agree. Now is not the time for cheap shots. Unless it's vodka.
I agree - no reason to trash those good folks. Speak kindly of the ones who have lost their jobs and move on.
How disappointing, formerposttoastie, and how cowardly, and how ugly, to hide behind a pseudonym and trash good people.
God but I love the way journalists will eat their wounded.
So sad to hear they let go of Lisa Elia. She was a great worker, creative, fun, smart. I too loved that recipe club column and I'm not that even into cooking. On a different note, Does anyone know if they kept people like Carol Rose, Scott Eyman, Hal Habib? these people they should have canned. They are lazy and make a lot of money. Scott Eyman even let his prejudice against the Irish (saying they liked to play the victim) through in one of his recent book reviews and nary a word was said.If that was said about any minority group, his fat ass would have been booted out. Carol was really lazy when she worked in Neighborhood Post. Couldn't edit copy and let Libby Wells do all the tough and grunt work. I'm so glad I took the buyout a year ago. In a year or so none of these people will be around anyway.
Lisa Elia, who did the recipe club, also was let go today. She also worked on the Web and copy edited one night a week. I loved that recipe club column and I am so sad to see it go. It chronicled the lives of ordinary cooks, but it was fascinating. I worked with her once and she was great. She was so versatile and smart and funny. What a loss for the Post. I also heard that Amy Woods and Gretel Sarmiento, Calvin Beam, Karyn Columbo and Rongalique Moultrie were laid off Thursday night. Don't worry Lisa, now you will have more time to root for your beloved Boston College Eagles. With the education the Jesuit priests gave you at BC, you'll get a job in no time.
The Herald people are no longer in charge. Those people aren't part of the old boys club. Emily Roach is also gone. Alina is Jose's wife. Anyone know what does this mean for him? She was a rotten egg.
was any really sad that Pete Cross left? Really?
"...This is a part of a long-term initiative to raise the price of our newspaper to reflect its value." WHAT VALUE?! The Post has steadily decreased in value over the past few years as more and more talented reporters were laid off, content agreement pacts were struck with once-rival publications, investigative journalism fell to the wayside, the dimensions of the print product shrunk, sections were combined and giant ads began dominating each page. Gerardi doesn't honestly belief his ridiculous rhetoric does he?! Readers are not stupid. This steady deterioration from respected newspaper to joked about tabloid is obvious to everyone. I refuse to pay for this crap anymore.
It takes 150 people in a newsroom to output The Palm Beach Post? There's no news in that paper. How can that be?
Christina Denardo was assured in a staff meeting earlier this week that her job was safe. If she really has been laid off, that�s really a shame.
Here's the in-house memo from interim publisher Charles Gerardi announcing the price hike. And the suggested script... ------------------------------ Colleagues, I want to make sure each of you is aware that we have raised our prices on single copies of The Palm Beach Post sold in stores and vending machines this week. As of Monday, August 31, the single issue price for Mondays - Saturdays is $1. This is an increase of $0.25 cents. Starting this coming Sunday, Sept. 6, The Post will cost $2.00, again an increase of $0.50 cents. This is a part of a long-term initiative to raise the price of our newspaper to reflect its value. In the boom days of our economy when advertisers had bigger budgets to spend, and also during the battle with the Sun-Sentinel, we kept our circulation costs well below market value. However, any change, even 50 or 25 cents, can be unsettling to many of our customers. In case a customer (or your neighbor) asks about the increase, here's what our staff in our Customer Care Call Center is saying: Q. Why is the price of the paper increasing again in Single Copy? A. First of all, thank you for reading The Post. We understand that it's a tough time to raise the price you pay for our newspaper. The Post has faced many significant price increases (everything from newsprint to gasoline), while at the same time advertising rates and revenue have decreased because of current economic conditions. We've absorbed as much of that cost as we can and have resisted passing the cost on to our customers, but that�s no longer financially possible. At the same time, competition between newspapers in our area has historically driven prices down below market value. We cannot continue to under-value the product we offer you. Please remember that even with a moderate price increase, the paper is still an incredible value. The Post is by far our area's best resource for local news. Plus, many of our sections, including the Red Plum insert, TGIF, Wednesday's Food & Accent, and especially Sunday's paper, are filled with money-saving coupons. And now we're adding a new Sunday business section called 'Real Money' filled with money-saving ideas. Using just a few coupons occasionally, whether it's for groceries, dining out or services, and reading Real Money will literally more than pay for this increase. It's also important to note that customers can still receive great value by subscribing to The Palm Beach Post at home. Our full price for a 7-day home-delivered newspaper is still only $4.00 per week. And a 13-week subscription is a great value at just $3.25 per week-- a weekly savings of $4.75 off the newstand price!
I noticed the price increase this week. Crazy.
This is small potatoes compared to news more people are going to lose their jobs today, but has anyone else noticed that the Post has once again raised its daily rack price? A few weeks ago, the jump went from 50 cents to 75 cents. Now it's up to a $1.00 just for the daily paper. Is the raise in price inversely proportional to the amount of actual news in that paper? As far as I can tell, it's all ads. No wonder they're losing paying readers to the Internet. Who's going to pay $1.00 for junk?
The theory regarding the alleged purging of Herald people is on shaky ground. The top editor at the paper is a Herald product. The new business editor was hired by Bill Rose and is a former Herald staffer. Ditto for the new sports editor who was just promoted. Ditto for the night news editor who was just retained. There are probably more examples. There is no evil plot. A lot of Herald people were hired in the past (most of them very good), so some are bound to leave as the staff is cut by 50+ percent.