Yesterday, on the front "page" of the NYTimes.com:
Mourning Old Media’s Decline
by David Carr
NYTimes.com
I read and nodded grimly.
"...It’s been an especially rotten few days for people who type on deadline. On Tuesday, The Christian Science Monitor announced that, after a century, it would cease publishing a weekday paper. Time Inc., the Olympian home of Time magazine, Fortune, People and Sports Illustrated, announced that it was cutting 600 jobs and reorganizing its staff. And Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, compounded the grimness by announcing it was laying off 10 percent of its work force — up to 3,000 people.
Clearly, the sky is falling. The question now is how many people will be left to cover it."
This morning at work: whispered conservations in the hall, a barrage of staffer to staffer emails:
Men's Vogues And Portfolio Are First Conde Nast Victims
and this:
and of course, this, from The Observer:
Empty Nast Syndrome: Conde Nast Cutting Five Percent of All Magazine Staffs
You see, I happen to work at 4 Times Square. And yes, though I am lucky enough to work at one it's most successful titles, I also happen to work on the web. Now, you may say, CNP is smart, they wouldn't cut online jobs... the internet is the future of media. You may say that and you may be right. I hope your right. Because these are scary times:
"The plan is not just a five percent overall spending reduction but rather two distinct five-percent cuts for each title, guaranteeing that titles cannot meet the goal without cutting staff.First, each book will have to cut five percent of its payroll. They can do this through laying off staff or eliminating open and unfilled positions or a combination of the two.
Second, each book will have to cut five percent from its non-payroll budget lines: travel and expenses, meals, freelancers, etc."
Yikes.
