Fresh Loaf

1. AJC buyout list official — 74 to leave (In addition to the dozens of veteran reporters who jumped ship, news of Pulitzer-winner Cynthia Tucker’s move to D.C. and food writer John Kessler’s brief departure from food-writing made it a very productive week for us pageview-hoarding wretches at Fresh Loaf.)

2. Atlanta Tea Party with Sean Hannity to feature ’shit sandwiches’ (It’s estimated that 10,000 people attended. Imagine the response had Hannity been offering roast beef!)

3. Bottoms up at Frolicon (That’s a lot of booty.)

4. Anti-tax protestors urged to, um, ride MARTA (Irony sandwich, anyone?)

5. CNN’s Anderson Cooper on why Republicans can’t find their voice (A  recap of last week wouldn’t have been complete without at least one teabagging reference. Phew.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Jon Kessler

Today was the day the AJC’s writers and editors found out what their new jobs will be — sort of. I’m still trying to get a copy of the reorg list, but I’ve heard that many longtime journalists don’t understand what some of it means. I’m told the list includes no cops reporters, but common sense dictates that someone’s gotta cover crime. Will it fall to general-assignment reporters? I’ve yet to talk to anyone who knows.

There are several people with the title “breaking news reporter.” Again, what does that mean? And I’m told the county government reporters seem to have had the local school boards added to their beats — but then there are other reporters who will be covering K-8 education. On the face of it, that division of labor would seem to make no sense.

The reorg also seems to have divided reporters into two groups: daily and Sunday. James Salzer, for instance, is listed as “Sunday state government reporter.” Does that mean if the governor says something stupid on a Tuesday, someone else writes about it?

Perhaps we’ll have answers to all of these questions and more Thursday, when reporters are scheduled to meet with editors about their new duties.

It’s no surprise that the new assignments have taken some employees aback. John Kessler, the one-time restaurant critic and longtime food writer, posted this notice on his Facebook page:

John Kessler is no longer a food writer at the AJC. Zowie.

Instead, the always entertaining Kessler is now a “Sunday profile writer.” Let’s hope he enjoys it.

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Despite the presence of some very well-informed rumors, I’d held off running the list of editorial staffers who were presumed to be taking the latest round of newsroom buyouts at the AJC. Frankly, I expected Editor Julia Wallace to release the official list at any moment, and I didn’t want to post any erroneous information in the meantime. Well, the list of 74 names was released a short while ago and, sure enough, it contains many familiar bylines. (Full list after jump.)

Star lifestyle writer Jim Auchmutey will be leaving. So will star war correspondent Moni Basu — perhaps not surprising since the AJC’s days of sending reporters abroad seems to be over. The paper also appears to be clearing house of its arts critics: visual arts critic Cathy Fox, theater critic Wendell Brock and classical music critic Pierre Ruhe, as well as Sonia Murray, who writes about the hip-hop scene.

But the buyouts haven’t been the only news from Marietta Street in the past few days. On Friday, the newspaper eliminated its news art department — the folks who produced the graphics and illustrations that accompany articles — laying off the four remaining employees. Also receiving pink slips was the entire news research staff, which likewise included four or five people. Oddly, however, we understand that reporters have not yet been told they no longer have a research department.

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1. AJC plans to cut staff by 30 percent (As we later reported, nearly 90 editorial staffers will be bought out or laid off. That sucks.)

2. Atlanta to New Orleans rail line in danger … because of Alabama? (At least this story has a happy ending.)

3. Atlanta City Council OKs Decatur Belt deal— with a catch (Marietta Street residents protect their neighborhood from destruction, and the newest Beltline plan is a win-win)

4. Examining the Sweet 16: Nova v. Duke is can’t miss basketball (Needless to say, we rooted for the Tar Heels.)

5. Georgia slips in ’safest state’ rankings to no. 39 (The Peach State dropped seven spots, to be exact — the largest plummet in the country. Oops.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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This morning’s announcement that the AJC is offering a third round of buyouts came as something of a relief to many among the paper’s beleaguered editorial staff. There’s only so long you can show up for work not knowing if you’re going to be canned that day before you start feeling a little stressed.

Senior writers and editors who were already convinced there was a pink sheet with their name on it are, we’re told, generally pleased to find out they’ve got another chance to get out with a decent severance package. In fact, some employees have already handed in their completed buyout applications and are waiting to be told when is their last day on the job.

The deal on the table is the same as last time: two week’s pay for every year of employment. But the number of bodies to be cleared out is higher than past downsizings. The stated goal is to cut the editorial payroll – currently 323 positions – by about 90. But we’re told that’s an estimate based on the total salary dollars the honchos are looking to save. That figure hasn’t been released.

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After weeks of rumors, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning announced that it plans to cut 30 percent of its full-time newsroom staff. It will be the third and largest round of job cuts  since 2007 to hit metro Atlanta’s largest daily newspaper. Effective April 26, the AJC will also stop distribution to seven outlying counties, reducing its total distribution area to 20 counties in the metro region.

From a staff report:

The AJC’s news staff will drop to about 230 full-time positions, down from about 323 currently. Staff members with five or more years with the company will be offered voluntary buyouts, with layoffs to follow if fewer than about 90 apply, the company said.

Most of the news staff cuts “will be in production and management, allowing us to keep as many news reporters as possible,” AJC and ajc.com editor Julia Wallace said.

The cuts are expected to be completed in May.

The company laid off 48 part-time news staffers Tuesday and announced the full-time cuts Wednesday morning.

In 2006, full-time newsroom staff numbered about 500.

(UPDATE): Rumored counties dropped from distribution: Barrow, Bibb, Clarke, Houston, Monroe, Oconee, Putnam.

More to come.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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AJC: Scary Memo 2

Well, now we know the long-rumored payroll-trimming at the AJC isn’t happening this week.

On Wednesday, AJC employees received a memo telling them to update their personal contact information – home phone, cell numbers, next of kin, etc. – by close of business Friday. The last time management made that request was just before last summer’s buyouts, so that all staffers who weren’t in the building that day could still be contacted in a timely fashion.

So, it now appears large-scale layoffs are a certainty. The questions that remain are, when, how and, most importantly, who?

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1. Atlanta job fair at Georgia World Congress Center (If this post had attracted thousands of visits a few years back, I’d have laughed to myself and said, “What next? Creative Loafing declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy?” Hahahahaha.)

2. Soapbox: Jekyll Island Authority ‘at it again’ (At 239 comments and counting, the Jekyll post is encroaching on Black Mafia Family territory. A JIA v. BMF beef? Scary.)

3. AJC layoffs: this week or next (I’m not going to make a snide remark about the abovementioned job fair. This economy is no place for snide remarks.)

4. Georgia mayor’s Facebook page confuses nation (How easy it is to offend with a can of Schlitz and a pack of Camels!)

5. Sneak peek: Creative Loafing’s website makeover (The euphoria of making our own top-five list is only slightly diminished by the fact that most commenters trashed our makeover. Meanies.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Decatur Metro has a great conversation about my colleague Scott Henry’s news that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newsroom is bracing for yet another round of job cuts.

Commenters weigh in on what’s to blame for the quickening, whether it’s the Internet, liberal bias, or other factors. (For what it’s worth, Whet Moser, an excellent writer at CL’s sister paper The Chicago Reader, has an excellent piece that nails the various factors at play in journalism.)

One commenter who claims to be an AJC journalist added some firsthand experience to the discussion. This part stood out:

You print lovers need to brace yourself. I think there’s a real possibility that the print version of the AJC may be gone by the end of next year. Yes, I’m serious.

Not good.

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Ever since their new publisher told them in mid-January that the paper was losing $1 million a week, AJC employees have been bracing for a payroll bloodletting. And those who weren’t worried then got up to speed a month later when newspaper brass held meetings to warn staffers that “substantial” cuts were on the way.

Well, the rumor now going around Marietta Street is that the paper is poised to execute layoffs on an unprecedented scale, if not this week then early next week. The number being bandied about is that at least 25 percent of the newsroom could be let go. That’s what you’d call a Holy shit! number.

To put this in perspective, the paper shed about 70 of its most experienced writers and editors in its first round of buyouts back in July 2007, then unloaded another 73 last August in a second round that wasn’t restricted to old-timers. Combined with still others who’ve been lost through attrition, the AJC newsroom currently numbers somewhere around 325.

If the 25-percent figure proves to be accurate, that could mean upwards of 80 editorial staffers who stand to get axed – in addition to layoffs in other, non-editorial, departments.

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1. Our complete Oscar predictions, even ‘Documentary Short’ (It undoubtedly was Fresh Loaf’s gusto for “The Conscience of Nhem En’s” that pushed this blog post over the top.)

2. Upcoming AJC cuts to be ’substantial’ (Tragic and unfair, but not really a surprise.)

3. The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ episode 6 (What happened Ben? What happened to Aaron? What happened to Kate’s unconvincing attempt to abide by the law?)

4. Georgia has the Bible Belt blues (The Christian Coaltion relied on teetotaling teenagers to threaten our chance to buy beer on Sundays. Meanies.)

5. Madea Goes to Jail, locks out critics (Tyler Perry is predictably cagey about his newest project.)

(Photo by Ishika Mohan)

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Rumors have been swirling for weeks on Marietta Street about when — and on whom — the next shoe will drop. Just over the weekend, one AJC staffer told me the buzz around the building was that something big was about to come down.

Well, that hunch looks to have been correct. This morning, AJCers were asked to report to various small-bunch meetings at 11 a.m., where they were told “substantial” changes would be coming soon. Staffers were instructed not to discuss the content of the brief meetings, but from what I understand, they didn’t get many details anyway.

It seems the forthcoming changes will involve the merging of some sections of the print edition. This wouldn’t be a huge surprise to most observers, who’ve watched weekday sections shrink to eight, and sometimes even six, pages. There are days when the Metro section doesn’t contain a single paid ad, not counting paid obits, in-house promotional ads and trade-outs for AJC-sponsored events.

Apparently, the business section will be folded into the front, or “A” section. As for other changes, we’ll find out soon enough. But whatever happens, the result will be fewer jobs.

The AJC has gone through two rounds of buyouts — in spring 2007 and fall 2008 — and the feeling I get from staffers is that we won’t see a third round. Instead, the next step will be layoffs.

The logic goes that buyouts are fine if you have a bulging payroll and you simply want to lighten the overall load. But when you get down to the bone, you have to use a more precise tool to allow you to cut out redundancies while keeping the resources you need.

It’s not known when layoffs would happen, but the expectation is for sooner rather than later. More later…

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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One of the conundrums of the AJC reorganization was the company’s announcement last year that it would spend $30 million to upgrade its newspaper printing operations in Gwinnett. That’s a lot of wampum to pour into what we’ve been told over and over again is fast becoming outdated information-delivery technology.

The most immediate effect of the decision to expand and enhance the Gwinnett plant is the planned mothballing of the paper’s old press downtown. Last week, company officials told employees that about 100 press-related jobs at Marietta Street would disappear by the end of the year.

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Last week, 73 Atlanta Journal-Constitution photographers, journalists, editors and staffers left 72 Marietta St. for the final time. Included among them were familiar bylines — Maria Saporta, Michelle Hiskey, Frank Niemier and David Pendered are just to name a few — but also a host of behind-the-scenes characters who helped the paper run and kept the machine moving.

Someone at the AJC assembled a slideshow of those departing staffers and their memories of the job. It was played at a going-away party last week. You can view it here.

It’s an a-to-z 23-minute tribute replete with photographs and a Motown soundtrack. If you love journalism or have felt the bond a work environment can create, it’s a heart-wrenching video to watch. The paper’s losing a lot of excellent talent. We wish all of them the best.

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The first toe of the other shoe dropped Friday at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, when editor Julia Wallace announced a new business editor, a new business columnist and a new public editor, Talking Biz News reports.

In an internal memo, Wallace said Andre Jackson, who joined the AJC staff as an editorial writer earlier this year, will become the new business editor; Thomas Oliver, who’d most recently edited enterprise stories, will write a business column; and business reporter Matt Kempner will become public editor.

This is the leading edge of a staff reshuffling that’s taking place now that 73 staff members have taken a downsizing buyout (not how the concurrent, mysterious departure of three high-level editors plays into the changes). Jackson apparently will do part of editor Kathy Brister, who’d overseen the business desk, and Oliver will attempt to replace the irreplaceable Maria Saporta. Most of these folks leave at the end of the month.

The most surprising part of Wallace’s announcement was the public editor part. (more…)

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In deference to the obsolete “inverted pyramid” style of news writing that all veteran journalists grew up with, I’ll start with the lede: 73 reporters, editors and other newsroom personnel at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution applied for the paper’s most recent buyout offer and all 73 were accepted.

We’re told the mood is pretty upbeat right now over at the Grey Lady of Marietta Street following a memo this morning from editor Julia Wallace announcing that, because the company’s workforce-reduction target was met, there’s no need for layoffs.

Understandably, the potential of a layoff had been a Sword of Damocles hanging over the newsroom for the past couple of weeks. The paper’s brass had said they wanted to shave the news staff by 58 – and only 58. Would enough people take the buyout?

We’d reported that business desk veteran Bill Hendrick and longtime business columnist Maria Saporta were early takers of the buyout, which offered two weeks of salary and benefits for every year of AJC employment. But it wasn’t until just before noon that AJC rank and file learned the good news that the staff-cutting is over – for now.

In fact, we’ve heard – although not had the opportunity to confirm – that some staffers might have been so worried about the prospect of being laid off that they applied for the buyout even though they didn’t want to leave the paper.

Wallace’s brief memo doesn’t explain why the honchos changed their minds and decided to let an extra 15 people go, but the safe guess is that they figured it would help postpone future trimming of the payroll. For the time being, the AJC will make do with a 335-member newsroom, down from a high point of nearly 500 before last summer’s buyout.

We’ll post more names of departing AJCers as we learn them. Feel free to share what you know.

(An earlier version of this post contained a stupid, brain-fart error of terminology brought to my attention by the first comment. Thanks.)

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Longtime AJC reporter Bill Hendrick, 60, apparently is the first person in the newsroom to take the buyout offer announced last week by the paper. After I pestered him, he sent a note.

I can say this. I was told I was the first person from the news side to turn in my papers. I did so with great sadness, but with the feeling that I had no choice. I have no complaints, given the state of the industry, and understanding how business works. And I have no regrets. In my career I’ve been to every contintinent but Antartica and almost every state. It’s circumstance that’s turning the industry upside down. I’m sad, but not mad.

Hendrick’s byline has appeared in the AJC over the last 29 years. A series he wrote in August 1987 foreshadowed the stock market crash in October of that year and won two national awards. Among other things he covered health, science and business.

The paper is cutting its newsroom staff by 85. Editor Julia Wallace says 28 of those positions were vacant, which means 57 people actually will leave the staff. Another 104 positions are slated to be eliminated in sales.

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In the morning, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editor Julia Wallace announced the second round of newsroom cuts in a little over a year at the daily. In the afternoon, she struck a somewhat optimistic tone about the paper’s future.

“I don’t think the editorial mission changes,” Wallace said in an interview with Fresh Loaf. “I think that we have some opportunities and it’s incumbent on us to take advantage of those.”

Wallace says the paper’s overall readership is up — when you count online views — to reaching 2.2 million each week. But she also acknowledges that it’ll be tough to do the same amount of work with a staff that’ll be down to 350 from around 500 a little over a year ago.

The interview follows after the jump, but first some highlights: (more…)

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