Facing reality

[Deadline Dame]

Cuts have decimated my newspaper, most newspapers. We already worked our butts off with previous cuts, and now one person is expected to do the job of two or three, and keep quality the same. What a joke. Two copy editors, not laid off, quit. I was one. Before all this, the job was a heart-attack-a-night workload. Now? I pity those left. They are not replacing either of us, so the few that are left will be expected to do it all, plus the added work of their idea-a-day strategy for future success. What happens when people go on vacation? Do they not understand the laws of physics? And all that for pay that is almost a crime.

Not to mention content and quality are totally in the toilet. It's all about the Web now. All the bean counters care about is Web clicks. Hey, why not put porn on the Web...that'll get the clicks. In desperation, the butts of advertisers are kissed daily. Product placement on TV? It's now in the news stories on the printed page.

Those who work on the printed page...is there really any future? Don't think so.

Other layoffs in other industries get press, but the press won't write about itself. My town doesn't even know the extent of what happened to their hometown newspaper, because the "news" was a two-inch brief buried inside Business.

Sad doesn't beging to describe it. I wish all of you left in the trenches the best. I enjoyed my short time here. A lot of smart people. Thanks.