The Jackson Free Press has learned that the next round of Clarion-Ledger layoffs ordered by the Gannett home office in Virginia could come as early as Dec. 3. Bizarrely, even as the newspaper is shrinking staff and doing less substantive news coverage than ever, it has asked staffers to literally work overtime to help take pictures of people hanging out in bars (a photographer even showed up at our Election Night party at Hal & Mal's last night). On Election night, as the world watched Barack Obama become president-elect of the United States, the Ledger was busy launching its new Metromix Web site, which is part of a national chain of fluffy entertainment Web sites, now operated by many Gannett Corp. newspapers nationwide. The U.S.' largest newspaper chain is not known for local entertainment coverageThe Clarion-Ledger notoriously reported that nightlife is "non-existent" in Jackson at one pointbut believes that its future profits may lie more in fluffier coverage. The local outlet of Metromix was set to launch in the summer, but was delayed likely due to The Clarion-Ledger's first round of layoffs.
On a Friday in July, Executive Editor Ronnie Agnew sent the following e-mail to staff:
All:
As you may have read on the weekly note, one of the biggest Information Center projects before us now is Metromix, an entertainment Web site scheduled to launch Aug. 18 on clarionledger.com. One of the biggest pieces of Metromix is the gathering of information on 1,000 venues, i.e., restaurants, bars, casinos. We are behind on this project and need your help. We will pay overtime for up to 10 people to help call these venues and take photos of them. Carey Miller will fill you in on the details but please email me if you are interested. We have hired freelance help for this project, but honestly we know we can get this done quicker with your help. You would have to do this on your own time and the calls and photos cannot interfere with your work duties.
Thanks and let me know. Ronnie
The bizarre part was that, the previous day, he and Managing Editor Don Hudson had announced hiring freezes (as well as a diversity recruitment effort):
To: All
From: DonH & RonnieA
Re: Weekly note
Good morning/afternoon/evening.
WHAT WE'RE UP AGAINST. Because of the economy, we have a hiring freeze at the newspaper. Most likely, the open positions we had in the newsroom and bureaus are gone for good. There's no way to sugarcoat any of this, folks. Simply, we are facing tough times as a newspaper and even tougher times as an industry. We also are looking at some possible newshole reductions and possibly more cuts.
We are meeting with department managers to reprioritize some things. We plan to cut back on some things and move some folks around internally to fill the holes. The first changes will involve our community publications and the day and night copy desks.
If you have suggestions about how we can restructure some things with existing resources, e-mail Don. More to come on this note next week.
OF NOTE. Ronnie, Don and Earnest will be working for Gannett Co. next week at the UNITY convention in Chicago. Don will lead a recruiting team for the company; Ronnie and Earnest will be running a "new media" panel. You may wonder why we're attending this convention if there are no positions to fill. Well, this will be for the future, and Gannett corporate is footing the bill.
So there's money for drunk pictures, but not for news coverage. That says it all. Word is that morale is low at the paper, especially with staff fearing layoffs right before Christmas. Last year, staffers groused that the paper had ceased giving out the $50 gift certificates"Christmas bonuses"it traditionally gave, nor did it have a staff holiday party. The paper also started requiring staff members to pay for coffee, even as hardwood floors were being installed in the publisher's office.
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