N&O cutting pay, eliminating 78 jobs

The News & Observer in Raleigh is cutting salaries of all employees earning $25,000 or more per year and also eliminating 78 jobs in the latest series of cost-cutting measures.

- http://www.wral.com/business/story/4748286/

While this was not unexpected it is nevertheless disappointing news.  It is especially sad to think not only of the 78 employees who will lose their jobs but also of all the remaining employees who are taking significant cuts in pay and forced furloughs.  Boy, McClatchy has certainly made a mess of things with their desire to be bigger (and better?).

Issues: 

Comments

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/03/28/sirota/A quote:"In place of comprehensive, complex and idiosyncratic coverage, readers of even the most serious newspapers were offered celebrity and scandal, humor and light provocation," says journalist-turned-director David Simon, whose HBO series "The Wire" examined this trend. 

Familiar with the "e-edition" of the N&O? In an email, they say:

The News & Observer is proud to introduce its newest newspaper product - The N&O e-edition. The e-edition is a digital replica of the print newspaper, available on your computer 7 days a week. It's visually pleasing and reads like the real thing - perfect for the traveler, youngster or mover and shaker in your family. New! Get the e-edition for only $5 a month! Sign up or learn more at newsobserver.com/e-edition. Special features of the e-edition: Searchable, savable, printable, emailable Simple navigation for easy reading Includes all seven community newspapers Available every morning by 5:00 a.m.

For subscribers, they say:

ATTENTION N&O SUBSCRIBERS: 7-day subscribers automatically receive free access to the e-edition included with the cost of their subscription. Use login above for daily access. Weekend and Sunday subscribers can get the e-edition included with the cost of their subscription by calling N&O customer service at 800-522-4205.

So if you like and/or don't mind reading online and won't miss a printed paper in your hands, this is a bargain, as everyday for 4 weeks now costs $14.08 and for 52 weeks, $183, compared to everyday e-edition being $5 and 52 weeks for $65. Best that I can tell, the "e" version does not include access to the archives, and that might matter to some. So will the next jobs to be eliminated be the driver delivers who will go the way of kids on a bike tossing papers?

"So will the next jobs to be eliminated be the driver delivers who will go the way of kids on a bike tossing papers?"I'm not sure what the ages are of the people who deliver the N & O but I delivered the Miami Herald when I was in graduate school.  Although the hours were lousy (2-6AM) I had 500+ customers and the money I earned was much better than any other job I could do while in school.  I had to practice my salesmanship as well since I had to talk (con) someone into helping me on Sundays since the Sunday edition was always so large. And you really get to see some interesting things driving around neighborhoods at that hour!

I have read several books on the Kindle 2 from Amazon. Is one of best electronic book readers I have seen. Screen is not backlit and uses a process called e ink and is very readable. Can store up to 1500 books and includes free 3G connectivity. Books take seconds to download. You can surf web, wikipedia and has dictionary access. You can also subscribe and read newspapers on the device. Not sure if NO is included but well worth looking into. Thx

Here is some info from Amazon on the Digital Text Platform. Original name huh? :)

Digital Text Platform is a fast and easy self-publishing tool that lets you upload and format your books for sale in the Kindle Store.

It's Your Thing. Have a book you want to sell? Sign up with Digital Text Platform and publish your content in the Amazon Kindle Store in minutes.

Do It. If you have an Amazon.com account, you're already signed up with Digital Text Platform. Start publishing now!

Your Way. Digital Text Platform gives you everything you need to become your own publisher today. See for yourself.

That's neat. Just like digital music on the web either stolen or legitimate (ex. itunes) the web is democratizing the creation of music, video and literature. Anyone can produce music, video or literature and distribute it without having to go thru some controlling corporation interested only in profit.Thx

Five hundred protesters took over downtown Charlotte yesterday, stopping at Governor Perdue's office on the way to Duke Energy where they delivered a "Call to Conscience" to CEO Jim Rogers to cancel the Cliffside coal plant. Forty four were arrested at the front entrance of Duke Energy as they protested every aspect of coal-burning from the radically damaging mountaintop removal mining to the toxins released from the plants to the fact that we can ill-afford to accelerate the production of greenhouse gases when time is running out so quickly on our chances to avoid climate catastrophes. The protesters, who came from across North Carolina and the Appalachian coal fields, were also highlighting the hypocrisy of CEO Rogers who has crafted a public image of himself as the "green" utility executive while simultaneously opposing governmental restrictions on coal burning and efforts to institute authentic alternative energy and energy-efficiency.So today the N&O highlighted the death of some polo ponies, a biting dog whose sentence was commuted, and some geese who built a nest at a local mall. Which is more of a threat to newspapers - the Internet or the decision to run shallow irrelevant stories instead of covering the important issues of our time?  

The N&O's sister paper - how difficult would it have been for the N&O to run this story?http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/676813.html 

It's on Page 7B of today's N&O, at least in the edition that circulates in Wake County.

The low profile as compared to big coverage in Charlotte?

You have to remember that Wake County is Progress Energy territory and the fact that a substantial part of their readership are Duke Power customers (like Orange County) is probably lost on the editors.
The N&O does have online stories at
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1494029.html
and
http://www.newsobserver.com/1565/story/1493175.html

The other thing to remember is that the N&O has traditionally acted as if it is a subsidiary of Progress Energy. I'm sure this makes cocktail hour at the Capital City Club a lot more enjoyable for the N&O, Progress, and Duke Energy execs who gather there - not to mention the legislators that appreciate their campaign donations.

 

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