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Among the 38 let go from the Dallas Morning News yesterday was Lee Hancock, who said her goodbyes on the DMNCuts website: “I am grateful for the fun it’s mostly been. I hope for better, happier days for all who remain.” It wasn’t so long ago that the newspaper ran the ad you see above, celebrating some of Hancock’s award-winning output during her 24 years at the daily.
Last night, News Publisher and CEO Jim Moroney responded to my Tuesday-morning email in which I asked about this latest round of layoffs. This is what he sent, in its entirety:
No doubt you saw the newspaper industry’s second quarter ad revenue numbers that were released last month. They represented the 20th quarter of consecutive down ad revenues for the newspaper industry. Also, I am sure that you have seen our second quarter earnings. Even with a better economy in Dallas, we have not been able to overcome the industry trends.
So we have been aligning our expenses to our revenues throughout the year. We have had a lower total staff count each quarter. And this trend continues. This is the state most metros find themselves — a constant alignment of expenses to revenues — which almost invariably means reducing headcount.
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