Another quarter, another set of layoffs at the Mercury News. This has gone long past depressing and moved into gallows humor territory.
When I left the Merc to go freelance last Thanksgiving, pretty much everyone I knew outside the news industry thought I was nuts to leave a “steady” job, and everyone inside the news industry congratulated me on finding a way to jump off a sinking ship (albeit into a life boat with half a paddle and no sign of land). So yesterday’s announcement of yet more layoffs is no surprise, although it’s hard not to feel bad for all my friends & acquaintances there who don’t have as much mobility/risk tolerance as those of us who are under 30 and have no dependents to support.
More important, though, MediaNews management never ceases to amaze me with their inability to predict the future — and with their total insensitivity to their employees. They just had a big round of buyouts, with two rounds of layoffs before that. But suddenly they need to lay off 9 more people, and apparently they’re asking for volunteers by…today. With notifications to go out tomorrow if they don’t find enough willing employees.
And yet, somehow — and by “somehow” I mean “by laying off or buying out much of the newsroom’s key talent” — the Mercury News will be profitable this fiscal year. Unlike (as VP/EE Dave Butler told the staff, according to the Merc alumni list) 31 of the top 50 newspapers in the United States. This industry is so screwed I can’t stand it. Let’s hope people who know better can figure out how to make something like nonprofit news or pro-am journalism work asap.
UPDATE (6/27): I was on deadline for a magazine story, so I only just now saw this morning’s ironic report that Martin Gee, who did a fantastic photo series on the buyouts a few months ago, was one of the people laid off. Martin is a total design badass who did great work on the three-part cybercrime series last November, including three very eerie 1A fronts. Big loss for the paper, big gain for whoever picks him up.
