Subject: Layoffs and Downsizing

• Mong Hit

  September 15, 2006

• "Not For Everyone"? Sure Sounds Like It

  August 10, 2006

• Is GuideLive Dying? Mong Responds.

  July 12, 2006

• Belo Earnings: Could Be Better, Could Be Worse

  July 27, 2007

• The Broken Promises of NAFTA

  August 28, 2007

• Sangers? Gone. Foley's? Gone. Macy's? Yup, Gone as of Today

  December 28, 2007

• John Mayer Has a Message For Dallas, Surrounding Areas

  January 16, 2008

• And the Hits Just Keep on Coming at KTVT-Channel 11

  April 2, 2008

• Dimming at the Star-Telegram, As 130 Staffers Are About to Lose a Job

  June 16, 2008

• Some 900 AA Flight Attendants Get a Choice: Get Pushed Out or Jump from the "Voluntary Bridge to Retirement"

  July 2, 2008

• The DISD's Exigency Strategy

  September 19, 2008

• Yet Again, Live From 3700 Ross

  October 2, 2008

• The Scene From 3700 Ross Yesterday

  October 3, 2008

• DISD's Shell Game

  October 9, 2008

• News Publishes DISD's RIF List

  October 15, 2008

• "One of the Darkest Days in the History of the Dallas ISD."

  October 17, 2008

• Ad Agency imc2 Subtracts Even More, But You Probably Already Knew That

  October 23, 2008

• Broadcast News

  After layoffs, KERA tries to assuage staffers and make itself more relevant

  July 4, 2002

• Thousands of EDS Employees Were Laid Off By HP This Week

  A Friend of Unfair Park who works -- sorry, make that worked -- for Electronic Data Systems in Plano sends this missive:Amazing how the DMN or any of the local news outlets has not reported the fact EDS has laid off 8,000 to 10,000 people this week. I was one of them on Monday. I will be on the payroll for two months while looking for a job internally; wink-wink, nod-nod. I get severance package of two weeks per year minus the 60 days on the payroll. I do get health insurance for two more months

  December 5, 2008

• The DMN Offers Up It's Year-End List--And, Yep, It's A Doozy.

  The pop music coverage over at the Dallas Morning News after its most recent round of layoffs and buyouts (which saw longtime critics Mike Daniel take a buyout and Thor Christensen laid off) has been, well, a tad underwhelming of late, to put it mildly. It certainly doesn't doesn't help that copy now comes solely from music editor Dawn Burkes (who may or may not be on maternity leave at the moment--not sure), critic Mario Tarradell, some freelancers, and, yep, a little help from Star-Telegram-er

  December 29, 2008

• Dallas Observer's Parent Company Announces Pay Cuts and Layoffs

  Twice today I've been asked about several posts on The Latest Word, one of our sister blogs out of Denver, referring to layoffs and pay cuts taking place throughout the Village Voice Media chain. The Dallas Observer, of course, is among the 15 papers in the chain, formerly known as New Times Inc.Specifically, this is the post to which inquiring minds are referring, one that contains a memo that landed in our in-boxes on New Year's Eve in which New Times founders Mike Lacey and Jim Larkin announc

  January 6, 2009

• BeloWatch

  December 21, 1995

• Radio Nowhere: Reports Say Clear Channel Due for "Massive Restructuring"

  The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post are reporting today that as early as next week, Clear Channel Communications will "begin implementing a massive restructuring plan that seeks to cut $400 million in costs at the company." Both stories say the layoffs are to begin on Tuesday; says The Post, "Clear Channel managers are hoping they can slip in the layoffs while the press is preoccupied with Inauguration Day festivities."Clear Channel owns five stations in the Dallas market: KZPS-FM (92.

  January 16, 2009

• Wee, Ryan Seacrest is Coming to Town. Well, to Mix 102.9's Afternoon Drive Slot, Anyway.

  A man of his word, Clear Channel's Dallas market manager J.D. Freeman did in fact call back with some news concerning programming changes at the San Antonio-based conglomerate's Dallas properties. As mentioned earlier, two KDMX-FM (Mix 102.9) on-air personalities were part of the mass layoffs today: midday host Lisa Thomas and morning host Tony Zazza. The station's also getting a new program director: Patrick Davis, who will continue to hold the title at KHKS-FM (Kiss 106.1). Mix's PD, Rick O'B

  January 20, 2009

• Following News of More Belo Layoffs, Union Demands Robert Decherd Take a Pay Cut

  A.H. Belo Corp. CEO Robert DecherdA.H. Belo announced this morning that it is going to "cut approximately 500 jobs, or more than 14 percent of its workforce," at all of its properties, among them The Dallas Morning News and the Providence Journal. Which is why a Friend of Unfair Park sends this announcement from the Providence Newspaper Guild: This morning it adopted a joint resolution, along with the Providence Unit Council, calling for A.H. Belo Corp. CEO Robert Decherd to "give back a 140% ra

  January 30, 2009

• Morning News Publisher Discusses the "Unfortunate Coincidence" of Belo Bonuses and Charging for Online Content

  James Moroney IIIOn Friday, A.H. Belo Corporation announced that it would, yet again, lay off about 500 more workers at all of its properties, among them The Dallas Morning News and The Providence Journal. At the same time, Belo managers, in the newspaper group and in the corporate offices, were receiving bonuses promised to them at the beginning of 2008 if they hit "quantifiable financial targets," says A.H. Belo executive vice president Jim Moroney III today. Moroney tells Unfair Park the timi

  February 4, 2009

• Evan at the Plate: Out at The News, the Rangers Beat Writer Slides Into D

  Jim Moroney, A.H. Belo executive vice president and Dallas Morning News publisher, confirms that the company has laid off employees at The Denton Record Chronicle -- how many, though, he does not say. Belo, as reported earlier, expects to lay off 500 employees in coming days, with 75 to 100 coming from its paper in Providence. "The other subsidiary operating companies and TDMN [The Dallas Morning] reductions will happen over the next several weeks," he tells Unfair Park, "if we can get it all do

  March 5, 2009

• As WFAA-Channel 8 Adds Third Morning Anchor, Belo Announces 150 Layoffs

  On Monday, Ed Bark noted that WFAA-Channel 8 has hired Kristin Mitchell as a co-host on Good Morning Texas -- making that show a threesome now, as the former St. Louis anchor joins a set already populated by Gary Cogill and Amy Vanderoef. A Friend of Unfair Park is not impressed with Belo Corp.'s timing: Late yesterday, WFAA's parent company announced that by the middle of next month, it will lay off 150 employees throughout its 20-station TV group, which also includes the St. Loui

  March 11, 2009

• Today In Music News: Mail-In Music Is Dying, Coolio's In Trouble, Lil' Kim Sees Dead People, and Chris Brown and Rihanna Might Be Dueting

   Your daily dose of national music news for Wednesday, March 11, 2009... Looks like you won't be able to use a fake name to get 12 CD's for the price of one anymore: The mail-in BMG Music Service is done. Washed up rapper-turned-reality star, Coolio, was charged with possession of crack cocaine and battery following and "incident" at Los Angeles International Airport. Even if you were a crack head, wouldn't you know better than to take it with you in your luggage? Lil' Kim nee

  March 11, 2009

• Pay for Play

  Seventy-three DMNers get sent packing

  November 1, 2001

• Letters, Week of November 22

  November 22, 2001

• Neimans Responds to the Now-Ubiquitous Rumor Concerning "More Layoffs Monday"

  In recent days -- at least, ever since this item ran -- I've gotten, oh, maybe 15 e-mails from so-called Neiman Marcus insiders claiming the company's close to collapse and, at the very least, preparing for yet another round of deep, painful layoffs. Someone posted such a comment to Unfair Park only yesterday in the item concerning Mark Shale's demise. Some bemoan the state of the Dallas retailing institution; others suffer from rather unattractive bouts of schadenfreude.Regardless, last night I

  March 24, 2009

• At The News Today, "D Day"

  This morning, A.H. Belo Corporation announced that layoffs at The Dallas Morning News will begin promptly, with "the majority of the actions [taking place] today and tomorrow." By the time the company's done with its so-called "cost-cutting measures," it will have eliminated 14 percent of its total workforce, as A.H. Belo CEO Robert Decherd said at the end of January. The company has not revealed how many of the 500 being laid off will come from The Dallas Morning News, but here's what News CEO

  April 6, 2009

• KERA-FM Says NPR Hasn't Asked the Station to Hold a Pledge Drive for the Mothership

  At the end of March, The Washington Post ran a piece in which some National Public Radio hosts and higher-ups discussed the idea of having NPR member stations raise funds on the mothership's behalf. Because, after all, NPR's struggling like every other media organization: In December, it axed two popular programs and laid off dozens. That story prompted this one today in The Wall Street Journal, which leads off: "Cutbacks and budget worries at National Public Radio Inc. are exacerbating tension

  April 8, 2009

• Crises Management

  October 9, 2008

• From Inside the News-room, the "Trauma" of Layoffs and Feeling "Trapped" Afterward

  Tom Huang, a Dallas Morning News assistant managing editor and Poynter Institute ethics and diversity fellow, posted this morning an essay titled "Living with Layoffs at the Dallas Morning News," which speaks for itself. This excerpt seems particularly relevant a week after A.H. Belo Corp. laid off some 200 News employees:A few days after the layoffs in Dallas, I talked with Jill Geisler, who runs Poynter's leadership program. We agreed that it's hard to be a newsroom leader in these times. Not

  April 15, 2009

• Edumacated

  August 24, 2006

• Hard times

  This too shall pass--like a kidney stone

  August 31, 2006

• Pre-emptive Spin

  AJR article has News crew feeling apprehensive

  March 24, 2005

• The Missing People's Agenda

  Plus: The Turkey Test; New Sheriff in Town

  November 11, 2004

• Once More Into the Breach

  New news is good news--maybe

  October 14, 2004

• Deciphering the News

  Belo's answers raise more questions

  October 7, 2004

• Sol Brothers

  Mondays in the Sun takes a whimsical look at unemployment on the coast of Spain

  August 21, 2003

• The View From the Bottom

  What's it like surviving the telecom bust? Numbers alone don't tell the story.

  October 24, 2002

• Among Those Laid Off By Clear Channel Are Three Familiar Local On-Air Talents

  Courtesy George Gimarc/94.5 ReunionVery Edge-y: The Edge's Josh Venable with U2's The EdgeBack in January, Clear Channel laid off 1,800 employees, several of whom were good Friends of Unfair Park and most of whom worked in ad sales. Today comes news that the San Antonio-based conglomerate has laid off more folks in a second round of budget-cutting -- and gone even deeper in the talent pool, with several on-air folks among the 590 being let go. One radio trade pub is reporting that Alan Ayo -- a

  April 29, 2009

• Belo Will "Continue to Focus on Expense Reductions and Operational Realignment"

  Weeks after completing its latest round of penny-saving layoffs, which were preceded by pay cuts and benefits trims, A.H. Belo this morning reported its first-quarter '09 results -- and they are significant. The publisher of The Dallas Morning News reports a first quarter net loss of $103.1 million, some of which is related to the cost of the layoffs and most of which attributed to a write-down in Rhode Island, but a big hunk of the figure -- some $18 million -- is due to a decrease in ad reve

  May 4, 2009

• Why Nearly 800 City Employees Are Getting Pink Slips Before Council Gives the OK

  Dave Cook, the city's chief financial officer, revealed at Wednesday's city council budget briefing that more than 700 layoffs included in City Manager Mary Suhm's cost-cutting recommendations would begin sometime in August. Yet the affected employees' jobs are intact until the council votes September 23 on a final budget. "We're not presuming approval by any means," Cook tells Unfair Park. The 785 unlucky folks will receive formal reduction in force (RIF) notices sometime in August, he explai

  June 22, 2009

• More Cops Means Less Service?

  July 16, 2009

• Mary Suhm Expains to City Council How She'll Try to Save 500 City of Dallas Jobs

  ​As the council begins commenting on the proposed FY2009-2010 budget, one issue comes up time and again: the layoff of 840 city employees, which will begin on Friday. Moments ago, the city manager further explained how the process will work: When the reduction-in-force notices are sent out at the end of the week, employees will also receive a list of jobs the city has available -- some 500, she said, "maybe more."The laid-off will be able to go online, Suhm said, and begin the "expedited proce

  August 10, 2009

• Loose Ends: Layoffs at City Hall, Another Win for History and Blockbuster's Still Bleeding

  ​A few afternoon follow-ups to some morning items, plus a note from City Hall, where pink slips are going out in advance of tomorrow's scheduled layoffs. (Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm says she's laying off 840, with the hopes of hiring back 500.) Rudy has word about some losses at the Meyerson Symphony Center, but Unfair Park has also been told that the city's historic preservation staff has been cut substantially -- from seven employees down to three. Chief planner Kate Singleton had been wa

  August 13, 2009