09-07-2010 KC STAR LAYS OFF 12; UNPAID FURLOUGHS IN EFFECT Kansas City Star Publisher Mark Zieman notified employees today that a dozen employees will be let go and a number of open positions will not be filled. In addition, he announced that an additional one-week furlough for all senior managers and most employees will go into effect. "Tuesday’s job cuts were the third this year, with similar reductions taken in January and May," said a story on the Star's Web site. "The furlough, to be taken by the end of the fourth quarter, is the second for most employees this year." Two prominent journalists who were among those let go included Dave McQueen, a copy editor on the Sports Desk. He has been at The Star 10-plus years and is a 27-year journalism veteran, and Elizabeth Garcia, a copy editor and web editor for Ink. Garcia was on staff and one of the original staffers at Ink when that publication began several years ago. She has been at The Star almost the entire six years she has lived in Kansas City area.
Sept. 7, 2010
To all employees: The advertising rebound I mentioned in May is continuing to slowly gain steam. Our excellent sales staff is posting some of the most encouraging numbers we’ve seen in years. Barring a double-dip recession, it’s clear that The Star will soon be back on the path of annual revenue growth and the extraordinary cost pressures we’ve been under these past few years will finally begin to ease.
Unfortunately, the timing of this turnaround remains uncertain and most likely will not occur in 2010. The economy continues to slumber and many of our advertising partners continue to struggle. Our revenue improvement has allowed us to minimize many expense cuts and delay others. But the continuing economic downturn now forces us to move ahead with some measures we had hoped to avoid.
We are announcing an additional one-week unpaid furlough program for all senior managers and most employees, repeating the one we announced in May. The official furlough period will run from Oct. 11 to Jan. 1, 2011. However, employees may begin taking this unpaid leave as early as next week. Soon you will be receiving a scheduling form to complete and return to your manager, with a Q&A about the program.
We also are reducing our staff by about a dozen employees today and eliminating a similar number of open positions. Those employees affected by this reduction have already been notified. They will be provided with a transition package that includes severance pay and, for those who qualify, subsidized benefits continuation.
I deeply regret that we’ve had to take these steps, especially as we approach what I believe will be a turning point in this historic slump in our industry. But with these measures in place The Star will end the year financially strong, with a readership base, advertising market share and editorial product portfolio that are the envy of our competitors and most papers our size.
I know that weathering this recession has been exceptionally hard for each of you. But we will begin next year with a steadily improving revenue trend. We are posting record online traffic and revenue, we remain the dominant media company in our region, our presses and readership metrics are among the best in the country and our news products are recognized nationally for their journalistic excellence. The Star won’t die, but this recession will.
Regards and thank you for all that you’re doing,
Mark
THE TRUTH "The Star won't die but the recession will". I wonder how many subscribers and long-time readers believe that. Then again, Mark Zieman has never exactly been George Washington when it comes to telling the truth."
09-13-2010 STAR'S EXECUTIVE RANKS "While real journalists covering stories I look to read in the Kansas City Star continued getting laid off, I noticed the Star still has the same number of Vice Presidents, the readers like myself don't even notice are alive. Why is this? "Like all companies today, the product is not as important as a few fat cats getting there money and being in a big expensive glass building, that is also apparently more important than the stories I like to read. That's why I dropped my subscription, and has nothing to do the internet, but everything to do with a watered down product!"
09-13-2010 COPY EDITORS "The Kansas City Star loses credibility by laying off two copy editors. I think the biggest problem in publishing is the lack of copy editors to check the facts and make sure the reporters’ stories are edited for accuracy and the benefit of the reader. I think the Star’s reader liaison position is unnecessary, with effective copy editors there is no need to explain the newspaper’s mistakes/questionable intentions. "I also think the Star’s publication Ink is a joke and a waste of ink, too. I guess it’s fine for Twitter/Facebook hipsters but it has no value journalistically and makes the Pitch look like the New York Times."
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