Keith J. Kelly: New York Times Bloodbath Could Include Reporter Jobs
Posted: June 23, 2017 Filed under: Economics, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Adeeb, Arabic, Art director, Baghdad, Bill de Blasio, Breaking Benjamin, Brian Krzanich, journalism, Layoff, media, New York Post, The New York Times Leave a comment“Up until now, the company had not indicated that layoffs would happen if targeted numbers weren’t achieved,” Grant Glickson, president of the NewsGuild, told Media Ink.
As part of the NYT’s ongoing restructuring of its editing ranks, 109 copy editors have had their jobs eliminated. There are estimated to be about 50 new jobs available in the restructured editing operation that the Times envisions for its digital- and video-oriented future.
When the downsizing was first revealed in late May, a memo from Baquet and Managing Editor Joe Kahn portrayed the cuts as a “streamlining” of the editing process and indicated that some of the savings would be used to hire up to 100 more journalists.
But in a mid-June meeting with department heads, Baquet admitted that journalists could be targeted in a new round of layoffs once the editing ranks are culled.
“I just attended a department head meeting with Dean and the rest of the staff,” Metro Editor Wendell Jamieson said in a June 15 memo to his own staff. “While much of the buyout discussions have focused on editors, the buyouts are also available to reporters. Dean made it clear that, should the Times find itself in a layoff situation, reporters will also be vulnerable.” The memo eventually made its way to the NewsGuild, where it triggered a new uproar … (read more)
Source: New York Post