Comments on: Not lay offs but new lives

By: Paper Cuts | Layoffs at Thanks for visiting Paper Cuts

Paper Cuts | Layoffs at Thanks for visiting Paper Cuts — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:38:15 +0000

[...] day. Traffic to this site, which averaged 63 visits per day in the last month, skyrocketed after BuzzMachine and Gawker linked to Paper Cuts, the blog that tracks layoffs and buyouts at U.S. newspapers. That [...]

By: BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Roll over, Beethoven

BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Roll over, Beethoven — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:14:21 +0000

[...] rid of their experienced talent. Kicks to my groin aside, I’ve also lamented that. I’ve argued that when newspapers offer buyouts – and when it’s often the best and the most experienced [...]

By: le big z

le big z — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:41:38 +0000

i see the risk that a deal like this would become an excuse for firing somebody more easily..
“hey, let’s cut another 20 this period, we can give them all a blog”

By: Brett Rogers

Brett Rogers — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:15:55 +0000

Why not encourage these newly freed journalists to niche themselves deeply and blog with full facts and disclosure about their niche? Michael Yon is a great example of that with his reporting on Iraq – no one does it better and I think he stays in crackers quite well. Plus Jeff, as you know, niche blogging can lead to a solid audience and a book deal, as Michael Yon knows too

(Does Rick Ellis have a blog? If he does, he didn’t link to it above so I can’t find him.)

By: ‘Paper Cuts’ layoff site gets mega-publicity, mega-hits at Charles Apple

Mon, 26 May 2008 13:51:33 +0000

[...] reason? Links from Gawker, MediaBistro, BuzzMachine and Editor & [...]

By: Jeff Jarvis

Jeff Jarvis — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:19:11 +0000

Rick,
One could do it in addition to the lesser-paying job that comes next. Or perhaps a paper becomes a network of independent agents are you’re the pioneer. We can’t all save yesterday today.

By: Rick Ellis

Rick Ellis — Sat, 24 May 2008 02:04:17 +0000

As a guy who recently lost his job (albeit with an online news organization), I would have to say that the “offer them a blog and ad share” idea sounds great in theory.

But it’s also a naive idea. Hey, I’ve had my own site for a long time and my pageviews are pretty substantial. But making enough money off of ads to replace my salary is going to be nearly impossible. Expecially considering the fact that my COBRA payments alone will run me $1,200 a month.

Nice theory, though.

By: RickWaghorn

RickWaghorn — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:15:45 +0000

Give me six to nine months and a fair wind, and I’d love to be in a position to tell them to help themselves to a http://www.mylocalwriter.com url of their choice and with the ability to source and serve their own advertising via addiply… let them give it a whirl…

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:52:49 +0000

Don’t oversimplify. Not all the talent getting cut has writing ability or journalistic know-how. Senior VPs and exec-side managers are not going to be thrilled with a severance package that included their own blog.

Sure, these are also the people positioned to find jobs in other industries, but even canned journalists are not likely to be thrilled with “Sorry we can’t pay you any longer, but here’s an adsense account and your Wordpress login.”