Comments on: Projo to cut newsroom staff amid ongoing ad, circulation slump

By: Projo’s own ‘pension puzzle’: paper froze its underfunded plan | WPRI.com Blogs

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:02:00 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Nelson

Nelson — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:24:52 +0000

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.

By: George Reagan

George Reagan — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:02:45 +0000

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

By: John R

John R — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:55:44 +0000

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.

By: teddy

teddy — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:27:17 +0000

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!

By: J

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:13:14 +0000

You are a mean spirited fellow.

By: Advertiser

Advertiser — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:01:16 +0000

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.

By: J

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:45:06 +0000

Why?

By: Journal Friend

Journal Friend — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:03:10 +0000

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.

By: teddy

teddy — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:58:02 +0000

Well Then, John R, what do you think has cause the deminishing of jobs, then?

By: Advertiser

Advertiser — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:45:41 +0000

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.

By: John R

John R — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:13:27 +0000

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.

By: teddy

teddy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:38:19 +0000

I bet it’s not as fruitful as a RI state workers–and they won’t be able to fight for it, either…

By: teddy

teddy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:37:03 +0000

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!

By: teddy

teddy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:32:25 +0000

“Public employees seem to think that they’re the only “hard working” Rhode Islanders”

–HA! More like hardly working!

By: teddy

teddy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:31:15 +0000

“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!!!!

By: teddy

teddy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:28:55 +0000

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.

By: John R

John R — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:31:02 +0000

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.

By: Advertiser

Advertiser — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:04:56 +0000

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.

By: Bob Hamel

Bob Hamel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:48:26 +0000

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.

By: ProJo Login

ProJo Login — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 21:36:49 +0000

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.

By: bob

bob — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:03:41 +0000

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!

By: John R

John R — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:55:23 +0000

That might prove to be very intersting, especially since they are so good at throwing stones at others.

By: John R

John R — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:52:30 +0000

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.

By: Rlewis

Rlewis — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:19:37 +0000

I would love to see how the ProJo’s pension is structured. Ted, can you do some digging?

By: Mr. Fish

Mr. Fish — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 22:31:06 +0000

hahahahah. You really believe that. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA.

By: Ted Nesi

Ted Nesi — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:43:23 +0000

Thanks, Albert – but Nesi needs Projo!

By: ProJo Login

ProJo Login — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:08:51 +0000

“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.

By: JT

JT — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:12:30 +0000

Good riddance!

By: JT

JT — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:11:50 +0000

B, you’re dead right on that!