Projo to cut newsroom staff amid ongoing ad, circulation slump
December 2nd, 2011 at 12:09 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
The Providence Journal has offered eight buyouts to its employees and may cut more positions depending on the level of interest in the offer, a union official said Friday.
The staff reductions will be the first cuts to The Journal’s newsroom since multiple rounds of layoffs in 2008 and 2009. They come as the paper prepares to begin charging next year for its new website, which debuted Oct. 17. The news was first reported by Scott MacKay of Rhode Island Public Radio.
The Journal is looking to cut one reporter, one copy editor, one photographer and one editorial assistant, plus four advertising representatives, said John Hill, president of the Providence Newspaper Guild. Employees in other jobs have been encouraged to apply for a buyout if they’re interested in leaving, he said.
“The impression we’re getting is there’s a dollar amount in terms of the total amount of savings they want,” Hill told WPRI.com. Layoffs will take place if the company doesn’t reach its goal and are decided by seniority, he said. The Dallas Morning News, its sister paper, reportedly laid off 38 newsroom staffers in September.
Journal employees have until Dec. 16 to decide whether to agree to a buyout, which Journal insiders described as less generous than previous offers. They would remain on the payroll until Dec. 30 and be eligible for a pension from the newspaper in 2012.
The Journal’s total revenue fell 6% to $68.8 million during the first nine months of 2011, with advertising sales down 11% to $38.2 million, Dallas-based parent company A.H. Belo said last month. The paper’s weekday circulation fell 7% to 90,085 copies in the six months ended Sept. 30, the Audit Bureau of Circulations said.
The cuts at The Journal are the latest in a wave of staff reductions at newspapers nationwide, including the New York Daily News and The Denver Post, as the industry continues to struggle to transition to the digital era.
Hill said anecdotal reports showed advertising sales were weak in September and October but bounced back in November. The union and management are hopeful the online paywall the paper is rolling out next year will increase The Journal’s subscription numbers.
A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd told investors last month he thinks advertising sales will stop declining at The Journal and its California sister paper, The Press-Enterprise. “I think you can expect some modest stability in those markets, because they just cannot continue to decline at the rates they have,” he said. “That’s what we’re counting on. There has to be a stabilization there.”
The Journal lost about 150 employees between mid-2008 and March 2009, reducing its total headcount to 562 full- and part-time workers at the time. Job cuts have been concentrated in advertising since then, Hill said. The Journal is ranked as Rhode Island’s 46th-largest employer by the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.
“This is nothing to celebrate in any way, shape or form,” Hill said of the buyouts. “At the same time, it could have been so profoundly worse.” He noted employees at three other Northeast papers – the Albany Times Union, the Manchester Union-Leader and the Portland Press Herald – have fared worse over the last month and a half.
“We’re hoping this is an indication that we’re starting to bottom out on this,” he said.
More Providence Journal and A.H. Belo coverage:
- Full Projo paywall set for 2012 as advertising sales slump 11% (Nov. 3)
- The new ProvidenceJournal.com just went live (Oct. 17)
- A.H. Belo’s surprising success amid the newspaper storm (May 18)
- Projo falls below $100M mark as half of ads evaporate (March 14)
- No reason for Belo to sell Projo with price at $51m (Dec. 28)
- Why the Projo’s finances are healthier than you think (Nov. 18)
Tags: a.h. belo, digital news, employees, journalism, newspapers, projo, providence journal, providence newspaper guild
Nesi's Notes covers politics and the economy in and around Rhode Island for WPRI.com. (Twitter: 
The Journal has a newsroom? My impression it was all Ed Achorn all the time.
Achorn’s completely biasede. Hopefully he gets the axe!…..
No Readers = No Ads.
That anti-union editorial by Achorn was the last straw!
B, you’re dead right on that!
Although I feel sorry for those losing their jobs, the Journal has played a huge role in its own demise. The demonization of teachers and state workers has contributed to its decline in circulation. I cancelled my subscription as did many of my friends. Why would we give them money to paint an unfair picture of the hard working people in this state? What goes around comes around. The big corporations are going to find out that they can’t bite the hands that feed them. There is no sympathy here!
I rely on blogs and Twitter. They are great news sources. Bye, bye Projo!
J, I can’t agree more. Their twisting of the truth and omission of many facts costs readers and hence, jobs. Too bad we don’t have a REAL newspaper in RI!!
[...] Providence Journal has lost 150 employees between 2008 and March 2009, WPRI-TV said in its story about the [...]
The Journals reporting of the pension issues were shameful and extremely bias. Their bottom line will continue to be impacted by their decision to distort and misreport the facts.
Many of people affected, by their actions, will exact a price for their yellow journalism and we will be paying it forward.
The Journals days are numbered.
R.I.P.
Good riddance!
Their paywall experiment is already an epic fail, too. The format is cumbersome, and it is very difficult to share an article with others. That means almost no one posts links on Facebook, etc, so they miss out on the additional readers. And at least one of the ways to share an article brings up a version with no ads, so they miss gaining any revenue that way, also. But the worst effect (for them) of the paywall is that it has made them no longer a player in delivering the news to a wide audience. Google News can’t find their articles anymore, so someone looking for information on some news story in RI will use some other news source instead. Meanwhile, along with their blatant anti-union bias, which others have mentioned, they have sunk to the level of promoting ridiculous non-stories like the dustup over Chafee saying “holiday tree” in a desperate move to get people to buy their product or click on their newsblog. Sad.
[...] Island Public Radio | WPRI-TV Union official John Hill says the Journal will lay off employees if the buyouts don’t reduce [...]
Ah yes. Public union workers cancelling their subscriptions because they don’t like hearing the truth and in doing so contributing to more private sector job losses. Just brilliant folks. Just brilliant. And who again do you expect to pay for your salaries and pensions that are already higher than than those in the private sector? I guarantee it won’t be the people getting laid off from the ProJo. “Oh no problem” you say. We’ll just tax those “big corporations.” And what exactly would those be? Look around folks – there ain’t much of a private sector left in this state. You just do.not.get.it. The blinders some of you people wear are remarkable.
see, obviously you have been reading the Journal to get your news. Hopefully when they close you will be free from the propaganda that lead you to these conclusions.
What will I do now?
I can’t push the Obama agenda in RI without the ProJo leftist machine.
Just like Air America, I am now forced to use MSNBC to get out the Obama version of the Communist Manifesto.
RIP Pravda Journal! – You got what you deserved!
ProJo Login, you don’t get to have your cake and eat it to. The key to good reporting is being fair and balanced, and leaving your opinion out.
Right on! With the Truth!
These state workers in RI are the bane of our society.
They are selfish, only care about themselves & don’t live in the real world. They would rather see cities crumble and have the govt. cut programs to help children, the elderly, the homeless & hungry plus close libriaries so they can continue to live a substantial lifestyle. As a tax payer, I feel I am being cheated and not getting what I pay for. You can’t milk at dead cow=and that’s RI…
PROJO and all other newspapers are on the decline. With the www, news is presented instantly vs. when Projo prints it, it’s like 3 days late.
Who’s to blame? Jobs from Apple! His technology is really what brought the world to its knees and losing jobs….Gone are many music chains, cd and dvd pressing plants, video rental stores, book stores, publishing companies and newspaper and magazine businesses.
Technology is great, but when it messes with poeple’s weel-being, that becomes a problem.
If you think technology is the problem, maybe the solution is don’t use it or move to a third or fourth world country, there you will be able to rest confortably, in the dark. Your logic is off the wall.
Well Then, John R, what do you think has cause the deminishing of jobs, then?
Who needs pro-jo, when you have Nesi.
Thanks, Albert – but Nesi needs Projo!
Why?
Maybe if they made an effort to report the truth and their reporting was fair and balanced there would be more satisfied readers. Most of their articles stack the deck for their position, whether true of false.
Satisfied readers translate into increased profits over time. Stop being so anti public employee, we’re not the enemy, look to the people that passed the laws.
The Journal is not too big to fail, any void left by their departure will be offset by other competitors (new or old). Maybe Engage RI will help pull their butt out of the fire.
P.S.
They should put Mr. Acorn and a few other out to pasture. Their bias reporting is hurting the paper.
“Stop being so anti public employee, we’re not the enemy, look to the people that passed the laws. ”
Did you REALLY say that? Seriously? Newsflash: The people that wrote the laws were put there with YOUR union dues and did the bidding of YOUR union lobbyists. Are they to blame? Sure. But they were only dancing at the bottom of YOUR puppet strings. I don’t get all my news from the ProJo, far from it. I also don’t even particularly like their editorial stances most of the time. But to say “good riddance, I hope they go out of business” is so myopic it’s pathetic. I hope you don’t have any neighbors who work for the ProJo because when they lose their jobs not only might they resent your attitude but the foreclosure on their property isn’t going to help you either. Someone has to pay for your pension. Don’t forget that – because it ain’t going to be taxes from public employees.
hahahahah. You really believe that. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA.
Look, maybe you just don’t get it but projo is not worthy of continuing business using their present business model, which relies on yellow journalism…you know the type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to distort the truth and sensationalize half truths, never giving the other half of the story, if it conflicts with their position.
No sympathy here, this rag newspaper isn’t even worthy of being used by my pet. Change or be changed, the people deserve the truth.
So no sympathy for the guy who runs the press. No sympathy for the guy who drives the trucks. No sympathy for all the private sector union members who will lose their jobs. Nice.
You know you public sector union guys are your own worst enemies. It’s always about ME ME ME with you guys and every time you spout off in public forums like this you just reveal your true characters. I feel bad for all the decent public sector workers who must cringe when they read nonsense like this.
Right on, again Projo Login! They are all about ME ME ME..My boat, my summer home, my 3 cars in the garage…..
They are like “the heck with the taxpayer”–well, guess what? no WORKING tax payers, no pay FOR YOU.
..shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you, ingrates!
“Stop being so anti public employee, we’re not the enemy, look to the people that passed the laws. ”
–oh, really,well, it sure seems that the public workers do a great job with voting…for, example…CHAFEE!!!!
I didn’t vote for Chafee, he’s a horses a.. I wouldn’t trust this guy to park my car. When asked a question he always looks like a deer caught in the headlights and just for the record he is the only person I have ever observed that uses both hands at the same time when gesturing and talking. He looks like he’s conducting an orchestra.
I will conclude by saying that this guy definately marches to the beat of a different drummer.
I would love to see how the ProJo’s pension is structured. Ted, can you do some digging?
That might prove to be very intersting, especially since they are so good at throwing stones at others.
I bet it’s not as fruitful as a RI state workers–and they won’t be able to fight for it, either…
It’ll be a great day when collective bargaining is removed from the public union’s arsenal.
Some people just replace the childhood home nest with the union nest, but they pay a huge price in the end. These are the people that have no direction etc., they are easily directed by unions and the “bosses”. Pity the poor people!
Too bad….I always thought that the reporting was fair.
Public employees seem to think that they’re the only “hard working” Rhode Islanders. Thank God the Journal brought a lot of the pension crisis to light. I don’t expect their online version to be any better than the print.
“Public employees seem to think that they’re the only “hard working” Rhode Islanders”
–HA! More like hardly working!
You are a mean spirited fellow.
J: just because I say the truth does not make me “mean spirited”.
You know nothing about me, and people that know me (not just by discussion on a blog)–would disagree with your bashing comment.
Insulting others is “mean spirited”–people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, pal!
My company advertises in the ProJo. In June, my ProJo sales rep told me that the newspaper transfered the staff of its own marketing department to being janitors and that it hired an expensive outside advertising agency to handle the marketing. Sounds insane, but that’s what I was told. If that’s true, it’s a horrible business decision, but I’m not sure it has anything to do with the newspaper’s circulation and ad decline and the impending buyouts/layoffs. What I do know for sure is that I’ve scaled back my advertising and will continue to do so if circulation numbers keep droppping.
Nothing will save this rag paper. The downward spiral will continue as long as the truth is continually distorted and twisted to fit the position taken by projo and it’s favored politicians. Readers deserve full accurate reporting, not the penocchio version of the news. Lies and half truths do eventually surface exposing those responsible.
I can’t speak to the newspaper’s coverage. I look at things from a different perspective since I invest advertising dollars with the ProJo. All I know is what I heard from my ProJo sales rep, and if that is true, the newspaper put itself in a deep financial hole by hiring an ad agency as opposed to continue to market in-house (they made janitors out of their in-house marketing staff). As for the work of ProJo’s hired ad agency, my company believes that you don’t try to sell something; you make it easier for a customer to buy it. What I heard on a recent ProJo radio spot is that the newspaper is groveling for people to subscribe as in “reporters can’t eat Pulitzers.” Well, given the ProJo’s recent circulation plummet, people literally aren’t buying into it. Again, I believe that the ProJo is its own worst enemy. Like I said, if they keep it up and their numbers keep going down, there’s no reason for me to continue to advertise with them.
Here is what I am going to say – there are 250 or so left in the union. These are union layoffs – not managment. I have been here for 5 years as of next week. I am sixth from the bottom. I have no pension because I started after 2008. I have no more matching 401k.
I am not a reporter. I come in everyday, as many of you do, and do my job. As do the other 75 non newsroom employees left. I have never worked with more hardworking down to earth people. It breaks my heart with every layoff and scares me to death that yet again, I might be out of a job.
You may not like the paper – call it what you wish – but guess what? You are still reading it. It still has articles that make your blood boil. Bob Kerr makes people scream but so does Ed Achorn. Talk about opposite ends. Fair and balanced? Really? What media is now?
You can say advertising has gone down and in some part it is circulation but our economy stinks. We have no jobs. We cannot seem to get out of our own way in this state. All media advertising sales is suffering.
So please take the employees into consideration. Regardless of what you think of the paper, you don’t want it to go out of business. What else will you have to complain about? More importantly, no one should be wishing anyone to be out of a job.
Just for the record, I am not wishing anybody out of a job at the ProJo. I feel bad for Journal Friend, but if I cease advertising in the ProJo, it will be a business decision, not of out of spite. I still maintain that the sagging RI economy is not the main culprit for the Journal’s problems; it is the Journal’s poor business decisions as I’ve pointed out above. My company is also negatively impacted by the economy but we’ve yet to eliminate our marketing department and instead, spend big money on an ad agency. Makes no sense; neither does running commercials that beg for customers. I hope that that Journal gets it act together, but if it doesn’t, my company will need to make the smart business decision.
As a retired teacher, I find it most interesting that the ProJo espouses all the latest buzzwords and anti-union philosophy of Education Commissioner Deb Gist and the RI Dept. of Education, especially calling for assignment of R.I. teachers NOT BY SENIORITY but by qualifications for the job. Yet in Mr. Hill’s remarks in the WPRI.com piece, the ProJo will be laying off MORE staff on the basis of seniority. I guess they don’t believe that the best person most qualified to do the job should be left in place and the least qualified has to go, no matter how many years service. Oh, and those fired will pick up a pension right away. Can’t have that for teachers, though, can we? Let’s wait until they’re 67. What hypocrites! They love to spout out to the rest of us but do what they please themselves.
GWR
I feel for the union workers at the Journal. More abuse at the hands of big business. And to think that you have to deal with the likes of Ed Achorn who believes that it is the worker that is destroying society.
[...] Journal wants eight employees to agree to buyouts by Friday, and their union says those who do will be eligible for a pension next year. But [...]