Fresh Loaf

Word among Atlanta Journal-Constitution staffers is that the paper’s Sunday @issue section will be eliminated later this summer or early in the fall.

In an e-mail response to my questions, AJC Editor Julia Wallace insisted that no decisions have been made about a long-planned remake of the Sunday paper and suggested that I “ignore the rumors.”

“We’re in the middle of a thorough review of our Sunday newspaper,” Wallace said, adding that the AJC’s been seeking reader feedback on possible changes.

Several newsroom rank-and-file members are under the impression that the decision has been made, however. They say @issue — the Sunday op-ed-and-essay section — will shrink and be folded into another part of the paper as part of the much-vaunted “AJC 2.0″ project.

(more…)

Bookmark It

AJC Publisher John Mellott attempted to calm the waters Thursday in an e-mail to staff members after a sister Cox family-owned paper announced big staff reductions earlier in the week. But Mellott also warned that more cuts are likely to hit the Journal-Constitution.

“The economic factors affecting our business have worsened,” Mellott wrote to the AJC staff. “The recession, the housing market downturn, as well as soaring newsprint and fuel costs have increased the urgency to reduce expenses. We will do so aggressively and in ways that make most sense for our market, our readers and our advertisers.”

Mellott’s e-mail followed an announcement that the Palm Beach Post, which along with the Atlanta paper is owned by Cox Newspapers, would reduce its workforce of 1,350 people by 300 — including a whopping 130 from the newsroom. The cuts are the latest in a slew of workforce reductions at dailies across the country.

“All Cox newspapers are carefully assessing their own markets and business models and will be taking the actions necessary to remain financially sound,” Mellott said in the e-mail.

Mellott also said a long-coming effort to reinvent the print paper, dubbed internally as “AJC 2.0” are “in the final prototyping stage.” While the daily’s brass have talked enthusiastically about “2.0,” many rank-and-file journalists are sweating what may be around the corner. They fear it will herald a new round of cuts.

(more…)

Bookmark It