5/4/2023 0 Comments Detroit free press layoffs12 that Gannett would be laying off up to five reporters, four assistant editors, three website producers, one photographer and one editorial assistant. The problem persisted despite the company’s efforts, which led to the downsizing. More from NextShark: COVID cases skyrocket in China following easing of zero-COVID policy Gannett reportedly rolled out measures to address the financial losses, including a sale-leaseback deal for the printing press site in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and a paywall for some Free Press stories in the summer of 2020. The company had gone through layoffs and cost-cutting at its other news properties following a series of quarterly losses, including one that ended on Sept. This staff reduction will cut into what the diversity and skills gains achieved during that time." “Of those 30, 27 are people of color or women. Laid off tech workers feel like they were treated poorly by their ex-employers after years of loyalty. “ Since the beginning of 2020, we have made 30 hires," Bhatia wrote in a staff email. More from NextShark: LA County reports 76% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in the past year “ I do have other opportunities that will probably come to work out at some point," Bhatia told Detroit Free Press, “but if by getting my salary out of the budget it saves some jobs of people on the staff, I think that’s the right thing for the Free Press.”īhatia said that the company’s downsizing would set back the Free Press’ efforts to diversify its staff, which currently has a total of 110 people. With his resignation, Bhatia believed that Gannett, the company that owns USA Today, could use the money saved by his departure to spare some employees from upcoming planned layoffs at the Detroit Free Press in January 2023. Just a handful of cities have two dailies, and Detroit already isn’t a two paper city by traditional standards.Detroit Free Press Vice President and editor Peter Bhatia has announced that he will resign from his position to save other employees from losing their jobs amid impending layoffs.īhatia, 69, announced his decision in a virtual staff gathering on Friday. Gannett pays most of the costs of running the Detroit News under the JOA, Shea writes, adding:īy all reasonable measures, it’s unlikely Detroit will remain a two-newspaper town much beyond 2015. Harshbarger in August 2010 told me they were “working toward profitability” - i.e. That bears out recent history: David Hunke, who used to run the Free Press as publisher and the partnership as CEO, said publicly in 2009 that the operation was losing money. The newspaper had been facing the possibility of as many as 14 layoffs amid financial. People in a position to know have told me that the newspapers continue to lose money. Voluntary departures save Detroit Free Press from forced layoffs. Detroit's Schools Improving, ' Detroit Free Press, 17 January 2002. Dan Clancy, who was named as CEO of Twitch last week, said the platform will lay off more than 400 employees. The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press have seen newsroom staff cuts most years for more than a decade. The Detroit JOA, according to its terms (I have a copy) can be dissolved starting in August 2015 if the newspapers are both unprofitable – what the document calls “newspaper operating losses” sustained by the partnership. Keith Bradsher, ' Detroit Mayor Says He Won't Seek Third Term, ' New York Times. The layoffs will affect Amazons streaming unit Twitch as well. Making significant changes to the Freep, Shea writes, would require federal approval: She has six children ranging in age from 2 to 22, and her husband can’t work because he’s recovering from a massive stroke. Toni Valentine, 41, a United reservations agent in Detroit who has been with the airline for 15 years, has been told she’ll be laid off this week. He said the publication would be required to follow whatever directives came from that unit.įree Press editor and publisher Paul Anger kicked up an Internet rumpus in June when he mentioned that layoffs were coming to the daily, which publishes via a Joint Operating Agreement with the Detroit News. Layoffs could be delayed if a deal is imminent. I asked Harshbarger if the switch in divisions meant the Free Press would be subject to those all-too-often mandates, to cut jobs, require employees take unpaid furloughs and freeze wages. That’s important, he says, because the paper used to operate independently from other Gannett papers and wasn’t subject to division-wide cost-cutting imperatives. The Detroit Free Press is moving into Gannett’s Community Publishing Division, Bill Shea writes.
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