How bad are things in the newspaper business? So bad that it's newsworthy when a newspaper isn't cutting its staff, chopping its newshole or taking some other action that requires another of those ominous Message to Our Readers announcements... So far the Beacon Journal has avoided layoffs, but for one week in December it shrank dramatically. The paper temporarily slashed its opinion pages from two to one, combined a features section with its local section and trimmed pages from its sports section. Space for daily TV listings has been cut by more than half. Amid all the trimming, the alternative Cleveland Scene reported in December that the paper had put a moratorium for the rest of the year on buying notebooks, pens and batteries for its reporters and photographers. (In response, the Poynter Institute sent the paper two boxes of notebooks, gratis.) The story instantly came to symbolize the industry's malaise, but the Beacon Journal's outgoing managing editor, Mike Burbach, says it hasn't been quite the crisis the story portrayed: "Everyone has what he needs to do his job," he says. "We're just not buying anything we don't need."More of this article...Search Google News for more articles regarding the Poynter Institute...
So far the Beacon Journal has avoided layoffs, but for one week in December it shrank dramatically. The paper temporarily slashed its opinion pages from two to one, combined a features section with its local section and trimmed pages from its sports section. Space for daily TV listings has been cut by more than half.
