The News & Observer will eliminate 20 positions across its operations as the slowly recovering economy continues to hurt ad sales.
Employees who are being affected are being told today; some will have the opportunity to accept a voluntary severance package.
Publisher Orage Quarles III informed employees of the staff reduction in an e-mail Tuesday.
"We continue to make our way through difficult times by making difficult decisions," he wrote. "It is never easy to say goodbye to our friends and colleagues, but we must make these additional cuts to sustain our company and adjust to economic realities."
Mary Cornatzer has worked at The News & Observer for more than 25 years, covering the local music industry, state movie industry and travel. She has been the paper's Business editor since 2000. Contact Mary at 919-829-4755 or
Comments
lay offs
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 22:28 — springerI dropped this paper a long time ago. Way to liberal and one sided for most folk. Don't miss it for one second!! There are many more places to get my news that are more fair sided and to my liking. I used to advertise many years back with them and would complain about the extremly high price I was always charged. It did no good to ask for a price reduction. Craigslist is killing you!!!!!!!!!! Thats the bottom line N&O. Who wants to read a tar heel paper that is suppose to be a Raleigh paper. Maybe some of your top dogs need to take a pay cut.
What a sad little hoot
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 19:54 — AmericanWorkerLordy. The gang of folks here taking delight in their snarky "I told you so's" because of people losing their jobs? It's just sad, really. Reporters and editors for the N&O are people who, even if they *are* a bit more liberal than the Carolina norm, take their job seriously and strive to do professional work in a struggling industry. I can sympathize, being in manufacturing myself.
Side note: Most of the people losing their jobs probably won't be reporters or editors. They'll be accountants or salespeople or human resources ... i.e. Politics Unknown.
No one here takes delight in
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 20:45 — BourbonStNo one here takes delight in the plight of the laid-off workers. As for the "I told you so's" that's nothing new. Any entity that ignores its core business will fail. The N&O gave up reporting the news long ago and is today nothing more than a glorified "Ad-Pak" (one of its failed former advertising publications distributed locally). When's a newspaper not a newspaper? I'd say that it's when the powers-that-be cannot find enough national and international news to fill the first page of the newspaper.
BT: I think that given the
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 21:04 — AmericanWorkerBT: I think that given the N&O's paper-and-ink issues ... cost of newsprint vs. adprint ... that your critique is a bit harsh, even if it's on-point. Even with the N&O's limitations, they've provided some solid journalism in the last couple years, but I understand that doesn't mitigate your criticism.
As far the the schadenfreude crew goes ... I'll call out ARationalMind, PhantomLord, Nikkotg, and Notaliberal as commenters who slung political mud about agenda and ... taxes, seriously? ... without mentioning any concern for the newly jobless.
How To Save Journalism
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 19:17 — rippinsurfer2McClatchy, along with the other big newspaper corporations, ought to try out an idea I read about a couple of years ago in a Time Magazine editorial.
Rather than either offering content completely free of charge (and depending entirely on fickle online advertising revenue) or charging customers monthly or annual subscription fees (allowing every user access to dozens of articles per day, only a few of which might be of interest), they should give readers a choice.
Offer them a conventional subscription to access all of a newspaper's content at once, or let people pay a very small fee (maybe $0.05 or $0.10) per article.
It's the same thing the music industry got through iTunes: I might not want to buy an entire Police album for $10 or $15, but if I'm having a party and want to play the "Roxanne" drinking game, I don't mind paying $0.99 for the one song. By the same token, I don't want to pay a bulky subscription fee--a portion of which gives me access to the N&O's analysis of the N.C. State women's basketball team--but as a Carolina grad, I'd definitely pay for some local insight on Roy's Boys.
If companies get a PayPal-style system running that allows users to click a mouse and quickly pay to get the article they want to read at a fairly negligible cost, the newspapers will be able to get revenue from readers in addition to advertising, just as they did in the Golden Age of American journalism. And since nobody (at least no working person) is going to read the 30 articles per day that a subscription might allow them to access, the cost could be lower for readers while allowing the newspapers to potentially generate more revenue for each of their articles. Food for thought, at least.
more corporate mismanagement
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 16:10 — PDsportsThe N&O was an outstanding paper until McClatchey had to deal with its colossally inept decision-making at the corporate level (ie, trying to buy Knight-Ridder, a chain bigger than McClatchey at the time and fraught with debt and other problems). So, rather than let the papers in its collection that did things right and turned profit continue, McClatchey made across-the-board cost-cutting decisions, including chopping staff at the N&O and, inexplicably, trying to make the N&O and the Charlotte Observer (in 2 completely different cities more than 150 miles apart) try to be the same paper, more or less.
Rather than let its strengths drag McClatchey out of its self-induced malaise, the powers that be have decided to water down everything.
The newspaper industry, like many other industries in this country right now, is where it is due to epic failure on the part of its corporate braintrust. But hey, they're the ones who deserve the big bucks, right?
Content is still king
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 15:24 — geek49203If the layoffs affect content, then this is indeed a death-spiral.
If the layoffs affect the old dead-tree (paper) distribution system, then this is indeed part of the winds of change.
lay offs
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 15:12 — zebra370I am a fairly conservative person but I look forward every morning to my N&O on the front porch (Dont live in Raleigh You should try our paper if you think N&O is bad). It's ultra conservative but so amateurish. They dont print letters to the editor!! At least you can speak your mind here. I am really sorry to read about the layoffs. The paper has had some bad days (late on John Edwards very late) but in general I think the investigative reporting is top notch. They are,after all, putting Dems behind bars (Didnt quite make it with Easley but we won't hear from him anymore) And they didnt hurt the late Republican sweep. They have also been strong advocates for the mentally ill . John Drescher seems very open.to me. So give the guys a break It could be so much worse, like go back twenty years or so.Or try our small town newspaper,you wont complain again.
Quite a shame
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 14:46 — The_Nags_HeadThe N&O has improved dramatically the past few years and I am sorry to read this blog entry. While the paper still has a few faults (I caught no less than two editing errors last night while reading the online edition over an after-dinner drink) I think it is a fine paper.
Unfortunately, besides the economy, journalism itself is undergoing major changes. I think the N&O is on the right track, though, with their online editions. I have disabled AdBlock on my browser so they can reap the few pennies on each click. I would be glad to pay a subscription fee to access the paper online. But the sad truth is that a subscription fee is still a model that has proved unworkable as both the NYT and the WSJ can attest.
Even though my own years as a newspaperman were some time ago, I'd be willing to bet that the upper management at the N&O is still heavily larded with folks who don't actually contribute to the output of the paper. But I'd also be willing to bet that the folks at McClatchy will let the paper fold before any of those folks are let go.
Let's hope the paper continues to make its way into the new era. My condolences to the folks in the unemployment line, let's also hope they soon find new jobs.
Increasing revenue
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 14:24 — dp123I think the N&O can increase online revenue by charging a monthly subscription to online readers. Perhaps there would be a premium price for subscribing to the investigations section where you can download the legal documents (i.e Swecker report). The N&O had to pay their lawyers to get these documents and we the public currently get to read them for free. Thus, there is lost revenue here.
Perhaps the N&O can expand their investigations section and add a place where readers can post and share their own documents - i.e legal documents, SBI documents, etc. so that we can continue to enlighten each other about what needs to be corrected in Carolina's broken legal system. (ABC-TV NC does this and can serve as an example).
It's a shame
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 14:06 — FlowerpowerI am sorry to see the N&O do layoffs. I admire the journalists there--their investigative abilities, their objectivity, their features which are second to none.
Sure, the N&O, like all organizations, can make mistakes as in the Lacrosse debacle when it first broke ("Lacrosse players have swaggered for years"), but those mistakes do not color all nor diminish all. I salute the fine reporters and thinkers who provide us with sufficient information from all fronts that allow us to analyze and judge for ourselves.
There are many companies that employ hangers-on who really do nothing to move society, work or business forward--people who wallow in incompetence and sloth, political maneuvering and truculence, filling their sub-division homes with expensive articles for show.
Those companies provide nothing of value to the consumer--toys and phones--but the N&O provides a service, well thought-out, well-investigated, well-written--that we can all use to our benefit.
As Thomas Jefferson said: Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
what IS that smell?
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 14:18 — ARationalMindJefferson also said, "I need to go to the outhouse. Anybody got a newspaper?"
The actual quote.
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 14:39 — The_Nags_HeadI think the quote you are looking for is "Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper" which he wrote to John Novell in 1807.
Claude Sitton
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:34 — gamilicadMssr. Sitton was the editor, not the Publisher - Homer.
BTW - Your schadenfreude is showing.
You're right
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 17:06 — BourbonStYou're right in saying that Sitton was editor-in-chief and not the publisher. That goof up hit me an hour after I posted. The Daniels "kid" was the publisher at the time, I believe. As for your BTW on schadenfreude you're probably right there, too, but I'll have to figure out what it means LOL.
Real people ....
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:29 — AgentPierceSure, I could take cheapshots at the N&O writers/reporters I strongly disagree with .... but they are "real people" who have families, etc. I'll pass on reveling in their professional dilemma.
And I will not advocate any liberal voice being silenced. Unlike liberals, I am not afraid of opposing opinions. I will speak out vigorously in opposition to those opinions but not cry that they should be silenced. Who knew that Freedom of Speech would ever be such a significant partisan issue.
The N&O is NOT going out of business, but if it did something would quickly fill the void.
Maybe you're right
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 17:24 — BourbonStIf you're right in your prediction that the N&O will not go out of business, you'll have proved that you know something I don't know, AP, and that's highly unlikely. That "something" to which you refer is already filling the void, and therein lies the problem for the N&O. The N&O is one of the few things we locals still have, and I hope they can get the buggy back onto the road. People should purchase the paper for its content, not for the advertising; most of the people I know get the paper for its Sunday and mid-week ads. That's what is keeping the paper afloat.
Gosh, you are so goody good good
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:43 — ARationalMindGive it a rest AP. Trying to elevate yourself by always pointing out how civil you are while ALWAYS implying that everyone else is something else serves no purpose other than to singularly elevate your ego. Get outside more man! Your heartfelt emoting about the "real people" would be better directed at Mr. Quarells, Drescher, Ford, and of course, lest we all forget, Mrs. Williams. These are the people who have no problem sacrificing the livelihood of their fellow workers at the alter of their sacred religion, namely progressive liberalism. And when the doors do shut, Drescher and Ford will simply gain positions within the Democrat machine to whom they have served oh these many years. The rest, is not their problem. But to lay it at the feet of those who have opinions here, may be so sweet to savor by your ego, but is completely disingenuous.
Thanks for the advice .....
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:55 — AgentPierceARat: I have considered your advice and reject it. But I appreciate you thinking of me. Every one who posts here has either an ego or an agenda or both. I have both. How about you?
"ARat" ... gutter humor.
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 14:16 — ARationalMind"ARat" ... gutter humor. It suits you. How many people at the McClatchy Corporation just lost their jobs because of it.
How about me? I'm like an old man, at peace with the world, sitting on a beautiful hill, grass swaying in the gentle breeze, beside an apple tree. I just sit there, watching the apple rot, waiting for it to fall. But then you would have me believe that I am the reason the fruit is rotten, and that I care not a wit.
Your erroneous, obtrusive observations might get you a free lunch at The Pit, but to most it is only smug condescension.
And thanks for considering my advice, and for letting me know the outcome. I was so breathlessly wondering.
Layoffs
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:22 — notaliberalThe so called "investigative" reporters will have nothing to worry about, they can always get jobs at the National Enquirer. They already know how to lie and torture the truth.
Liberal agenda is the real reason
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:15 — nikkotgThe N & O's extreme liberal agenda is the true reason behind its continued decline. Everyone I know is sick and tired of their incessant attacks of the new school board and constant breach of ethics by refusing to report "just the news" instead of promting an extremist liberal agenda on a regular basis. Everybody in my neighborhood canceled their subscription because of this and I know many business owners who have told me they refuse to buy advertising space either online or in print from The N @ O because of their disgust of their constant pandering to extreme liberal causes. I for one am not surprised as I've been predicting this downfall on The N @ O blogs for 2 years now. I'm just surprised they've lasted this long.
Cry me a river
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:12 — ARationalMindIf Craig Lindsey goes, that's the end. When Steve Ford, Jim Jenks and and Linda Williams are the only one's left mindlessly minding the store, the shelves will be bare.
Who could have possibly seen this coming? What I love most? The continual, utterly complete denial at the N&O as to why their economics are so bad. My favorite line in the story? "Publisher Orage Quarles III informed employees of the staff reduction in an e-mail Tuesday." Now that is ballsy. Guess his schedule is just too busy to actually have a face-to-face. The McClatchy Corporation's News and Observer, self absorbed propogandists, limping into obscurity.
Can't say G. D. Gearino didn't warn them.
Solution to N&O Problems
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 17:32 — BourbonStThe News and Observer started abandoning its newspaper publishing business back in the 1990's before the Daniels' clan sold the business to the McClatchy Group. When then-publisher (Daniels) told me how many "hits" the N&O's website was getting per day, I couldn't help but laugh and tell him that the N&O would die a slow death if he didn't forget his new focus on the internet and stick to putting out a quality newspaper (which left something to be desired even then). The last real editor-in-chief employed by the N&O was Claude Sitton, who was hard-headed but would listen to customers. Not sure if I wish the paper "luck" or not, inasmuch they have been on a path of self-destruction for a very long time and seem not to care about what customers want in a newspaper. I have heard that they have focus groups, but those are obviously a bunch of people who agree on the paper's current direction. I told Daniels that the N&O would be out of business before 2005; I was wrong and will not guess again. Their days are numbered.
They did raise single issue prices
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 11:34 — nancyncAnd they raised delivery prices. Rates are up.
Rates
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 20:54 — BourbonStHas anyone noticed that every time rates go up, the size and number of pages decrease?
Why not just raise ad
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 11:20 — PhantomLordWhy not just raise ad rates? And subscription rates. And single issue purchase prices?
The N&O has a long held position that to prevent layoffs in government, just raise taxes.
Why not put your position into practice for your own business?
I ain't payin' no stupid tasses ...
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:16 — ARationalMindPL, the News & Observer doesn't pay taxes on the product they manufacture. That is why they have no problem with calling for raising prices on manufacturers. It doesn't effect them. Progressive Liberals: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
RationalMind: I'm
Tue, 01/18/2011 - 20:45 — AmericanWorkerRationalMind: I'm suspecting a high percentage of Fail in your reply. Putting aside arguments of whether the 4th estate should (or should not) qualify for tax subsidies, please explain what you mean by "the News and Observer doesn't pay taxes on the product they manufacture" and also "calling for raising prices on manufacturers".