Fresh Loaf

1. Hundreds of fish die in Piedmont Park’s Lake Clara Meer (Turns out it was more like thousands of fish that perished, reportedly from dissolved oxygen. Who knows what Sir Paul thought?)

2. AJC may abandon Marietta Street (Today we learned the paper’s new HQ will be in the action-packed ‘burbs come next June.)

3. Why I want a public option (Andisheh Nouraee clearly states why there needs to be an alternative to private health insurance.)

4. Columnist’s solution to gay sex in parks? Attack dogs. (Marietta Daily Journal resident curmudgeon enlightens us with his wonderful idea of how Marietta City Council should send gays “back to Atlanta where they belong.”)

5. Fulton, Forsyth ban chaining your dog (Beginning Sept. 4, dogs in Fulton County cannot be chained or tethered to a fixed object unless held by an attendant or by the owner.)

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

Bookmark It

Awash in red ink, the AJC recently cut a third of its news staff

Much like the overall economy, the Fourth Estate seems to be in free-fall. Advertising revenues have dropped 23 percent over the past two years. Newspaper stocks are close to worthless. Big-city papers across the country have slashed staff, cut coverage areas, closed bureaus, quit publishing on certain days and even shut down altogether.

Far from being an exception, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is among the hardest hit. For reasons that have been the subject of fierce speculation, the AJC has suffered from one of the steepest declines in paid readership among major dailies. And earlier this year, in prefacing the need for cutbacks, its new publisher revealed that the AJC was losing $1 million a week, which placed it in the company of the Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle and other papers perilously close to going belly up.

That’s the background for last week’s sweeping downsizing and reorganization of the AJC newsroom. The paper is in the process of shedding 78 veteran editors, reporters and other journalists through voluntary buyouts — its third such program in three years — and another dozen or so graphic artists, news researchers and customer care employees as a result of a round of post-buyout layoffs. Two weeks ago, more than 40 part-time newsroom employees were told by phone that they no longer had jobs.

In the flush times of a decade ago, the AJC was home to about 500 full-time journalists; when the buyout dust settles, that number will have been pared back to slightly more than 200, most of whom will have heavier workloads and fewer resources than ever before.

Whatever your opinion of the AJC’s virtues, the newspaper going forward can’t escape being a diminished version of its former self. The question is: What kind of news coverage can Atlanta still expect from its daily newspaper?

(more…)

Bookmark It

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.

(more…)

Bookmark It

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)

Bookmark It

Wayne Garcia, political editor of CL’s Tampa paper, writes that the judge in the company’s bankruptcy court case has asked the sides to deliver closing arguments in writing. She will review the details and deliver a decision in an as-yet unscheduled conference call.

Don’t wait up for a decision in our Tampa bankruptcy court hearing today; Judge Caryl Delano said early this evening that she did not plan on ruling immediately on whether lender Atalaya Capital Management should be allowed to declare Creative Loafing in default of its $31 million in loans and take over the alt-weekly chain.

Testimony was continuing into the evening in the hearing. Creative Loafing’s valuation expert, Michael Mard of Tampa’s Financial Valuation Group of Florida, testified through all of Tuesday afternoon about his assessment that the chain absorbed most of its losses and revenue declines before its Sept. 29, 2008, Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. He put the value of the company at $7 million on Sept. 30; $12 million on Dec. 31, 2008; and $13 million by February of this year.

Read the rest of Garcia’s update here.

Bookmark It

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)

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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)

Bookmark It

1. Trackside Tavern destroyed by fire (In a sad day for horny drinkers on the prowl, Decatur’s beloved dive bar and hook-up spot was gutted.)

2. Dr. Lowery’s inaugural benediction riffs on the blues (Weird how few media outlets picked up on Lowery’s inaugural nod to Big Bill Broonzy’s “Black, Brown and White.”)

3. Killing what’s left of the press (A legislative proposal that would decimate small-town newspapers. As if the print industry needs any more bad news.)

4. 2009 Georgia General Assembly struggles with budget, gridlock (You think YOU’RE broke? The state is $2 billion in the hole!)

5. Readers can’t keep up with Spidey and Barack (Comic book featuring America’s favorite superhero flies off the shelves. Spider-man is pissed.)

Bookmark It

New York Times media columnist David Carr had an eye-opening article yesterday about TriCityNews, an Asbury Park, N.J. altweekly with a circulation of 10,000, a skeleton-crew staff, and an enviable profit margin at a time when newspapers — and magazines, as well — are seeing layoffs, dwindling revenues and bankruptcies. (Carr mentions Creative Loafing Inc. in the article.)

How’d Dan Jacobson, the paper’s publisher and owner, do it? In what would seem a suicidal move, he invested his energy and focus into the print “product” and saw it become an item readers clamored to pick up.  He set advertising rates 10 years ago and maintained them, and in the process, developed a loyal list of clients. Most importantly, he says, he ignored the publishing pack’s rush to gain an online presence and completely ignored the web. (Look at the paper’s website.) It appears — in this case, at least — there’s something to be said about safeguarding your content.

(more…)

Bookmark It

He goes out quoting Mark Twain:

Mark Twain famously said it was a terrible death to be talked to death. He also had this to say about journalists who feel compelled to write valedictories when they end their careers: “If there is anything more uncalled for … it is one of those tearful, blubbery, long-winded “valedictories” —- where a man who has been annoying the public for ten years can not take leave of them without sitting down to cry out a column and a half.”

My last day at the newspaper was Friday. It has been a pleasure over a 37-year career to have had a chance to annoy you, first as public editor and more recently as an editorial columnist, for the last eight years. Thanks to the newspaper for the platform and to you for reading.

King has been a familiar voice on education and issues affecting Cobb County, where he lives. Earlier this year, he penned a poignant column about his wife Anne’s sudden death. (Full disclosure: I went to high school with King’s children.)

If you want to get in touch with him, his personal e-mail is listed at the bottom of his final column.

(Hat tip to Doug at Live Apartment Fire)

Bookmark It

Effective Jan. 11, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says it will shrink its circulation area to 27 counties and cut 156 jobs. The affected counties are mostly located along the Alabama and North Carolina borders (full list is available through the link). Jobs slated to be cut appear to be in the circulation department. (If I’m mistaken, please correct me in the comments or via e-mail. Anonymity guaranteed.)

From the report:

The move will reduce daily and Sunday circulation about 5 percent. But it will not significantly affect overall readership — a measure of readers rather than the number of copies — because that is based on a 28-county area, the AJC said.

The company said 215 employees have been offered involuntary severance packages as part of a restructuring of the circulation department, but that they may apply for 59 jobs created by the changes. The net reduction is 156 full- and part-time positions.

Bookmark It

This is big.

The Tribune Co. is the country’s second-largest publisher of newspapers behind Gannett. (And following the break-up of Knight-Ridder.) The company owns some of the most venerated brand names in print journalism: the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant and Orlando Sentinel.

Like Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, Tribune is heavily invested in broadcasting, with two dozens TV and radio stations across the country. But it also owns plenty of other things most publishing companies don’t mess with, such as a sport franchise (Chicago Cubs), a ball park (Wrigley Field) and a cable sports network.

This afternoon, the NYT reports that Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Bookmark It

From Romenesko:

Cox Newspapers Washington bureau chief Andy Alexander will become the Washington Post’s ombudsman for a two-year term beginning Feb. 2. “He brings with him more than 30 years of experience in the news industry and will be an excellent advocate for our readers,” writes Post publisher Katharine Weymouth. Cox Newspaper announced this week that Alexander’s bureau will shut down in April.

Bookmark It

Cox Newspapers, a subsidiary of Cox Communications and owner of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says it will shut down its national and international news bureau in Washington, D.C. on April 1, 2009.

A company memo posted on Romenesko says the AJC and Dayton Daily News will “manage their own Washington and international newsgathering independently following the national bureau’s closing through dedicated correspondents in D.C.” Eligible employees of the D.C. bureau will be offered “generous” severance packages and continued employment until March 31. Bureau chief Andy Alexander will retire at the end of the year.

“The Washington news bureau and its chief, Andy Alexander, have an impressive and storied history in Washington and in our company,” Sandy Schwartz, Cox Newspapers president, said in the memo. “For more than 30 years, the reporters of this bureau have broken an untold number of stories that have had an impact on the lives of our readers in cities and towns all across the U.S. The Cox Washington bureau has won or shared virtually every major American journalism award, including the Pulitzer Prize.”

After the jump, read the entire memo. It includes details about Alexander’s career — it’s been an impressive one — and information about the international bureau.

(more…)

Bookmark It

In a move that stunned staffers, Creative Loafing Atlanta Publisher Luann Labedz announced this morning  that Editor Ken Edelstein was fired. A tearful editorial staff followed him out of the building to say goodbye.

Labedz said Edelstein’s firing was a “confidential personnel matter” and that she could not elaborate. A call to Edelstein reached his voicemail.

“This was an involuntary termination,” Edelstein told the AJC. “I feel very comfortable that I did the right thing, and I love my staff.”

Atlanta Magazine senior editor — and former CL staffer — Steve Fennessy has been covering CL’s ongoing Chapter 11 filing and has more details on Edelstein’s firing, including comments from John Sugg, a former CL editor.

Edelstein joined CL’s staff as a senior writer and became managing editor in 1998. Two years later, he was named editor of the paper. Prior to joining CL Edelstein worked 10 years for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and was a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C., Australia and Mexico.

During his decade leading the editorial staff, the paper has won more than 30 regional and national awards for investigative reporting, news writing, columnists, criticism, food writing and other categories. While at the helm, Edelstein helped shift the paper’s focus on listings to more hard news and investigative journalism. Recently, Edelstein has led a dedicated effort to increase CL’s online presence despite budget restraints and cuts to his team.

No word yet on Edelstein’s replacement.

Bookmark It

The latest circulation numbers for the nation’s largest daily newspapers have been released and they’re so ugly you could wear them for Halloween. While the slump affects almost every major daily, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been especially hard hit.

I know, I know. You get tired of hearing us harp about the circulation slide over on Marietta Street, but this time it’s worse than usual. Last fall, the AJC had one of the larger declines with a 9-percent drop in paid circulation. This time, however, our hometown daily suffered the biggest plunge of the nation’s largest newspapers, with a 13.6-percent loss.

The other double-digit losers were the Houston Chronicle, with a 11.6-percent decline; the Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 percent; Newark Star-Ledger, 10.4; and the venerable Boston Globe, 10.2.

Among papers with a national circulation, the New York Times slipped 3.6 percent and USA Today and The Wall Street Journal remained flat.

Now, one factor in the AJC’s free-falling numbers could be its decision to reduce its distribution zone from more than 200 counties in Georgia and neighboring states to 73 counties clustered around Atlanta. However, that cost-cutting change took place in early 2007 and represented only 5 percent of the existing circulation.

Times are tough all over.

UPDATE: I just received a message from AJC spokeswoman Jennifer Morrow, who tells me I forgot to mention additional distribution changes. Here’s her explanation:

The AJC discontinued distribution in 23 outlying counties this past summer and attributes to about half of the circulation decline; your story only addresses the footprint change in 2007.
These numbers also reflect a planned decline due to fewer sponsored papers, transitioning to an E-edition with our newspaper in education program, as well as a home delivery and weekday single copy price increase. Adjusting for those planned circulation cutbacks, our circulation is down 6.8% daily and -0.1% Sunday.
Today’s report reflects not only circulation but audience data. The AJC’s total print and online audience over the past seven days has climbed to 2.22 million, an increase of 3.4% compared to one year ago. This represents a weekly reach of almost 58% of the Atlanta market’s adult population.

Point taken, but then it’s quite possible that many of the newspapers on the list have similar explanations for their drops in circulation. In other words, if you factor in the relevant extenuating circumstances in each individual case, the AJC could still have seen the biggest decline among major dailies. Or not.

Like most newspapers, the AJC is fervently trying to shift the focus from paid circulation to total readership – including online, where it does especially well. After all, paid circ is only one of several indicators of a newspaper’s market performance. Unfortunately, it’s the one that most advertisers best understand. And until someone comes up with an updated business model, falling circulation will still be bad news in this industry.

Bookmark It

Creative Loafing Inc. — which owns alternative weekly newspapers in Chicago, Washington, Tampa, Charlotte and Sarasota, as well as Atlanta — today filed for bankruptcy protection. Prompting the move was a debt load of more than $40 million.
“The company owned owed more money than it can pay back right now,” CEO Ben Eason said in a conference call with company managers. The bankruptcy petition was filed in Tampa, where the company’s based, and was timed to preclude an interest payment that was owed lenders on Wednesday.

The company will ask federal bankruptcy Judge Caryl Delano to stay any attempt by creditors to liquidate the assets or take control of the company.

“We’re doing the right things,” Eason said. “This will give us a fresh start. It is a reorganization, not a liquidation. Everybody gets paid.”

The debt load was substantially increased last year when Creative Loafing purchased the Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper. Since then, advertising revenues for the print editions of the papers has deteriorated, as they have for newspapers nationwide. Over the same period last year, revenues were down between 10 and 15 percent.

Among the largest unsecured creditors is Fayetteville Publishing Co., which prints the Atlanta paper and some of the other papers in the group. The Georgia Department of Labor, the Georgia Department of Revenue and the IRS are also among the creditors.

Creative Loafing was founded in 1972 by Debby Eason in Atlanta and later opened several other papers in the Southeast. Her son, Ben, who owned the Tampa paper, acquired the rest of the family newspapers in 2000.

Bookmark It