January 13th, 2009 
joel There are no illusions that things are going to get better in the newspaper business anytime soon. In an American Journalism Review article from last summer, writer Charles Layton offered scenarios that put into question whether online advertising will ever fill the gap left from declining print advertising. One chart predicted a fall for total newspaper ad revenue from $45.4 billion in 2007 down to $22.9 billion in 2020, with half of that income from online sources.
The abstract became reality over the holidays as the Erie Times News downsized their workforce through buyouts, with eight members of the newsroom staff leaving. Public Editor Liz Allen gave them a send-off tribute in Sunday’s paper. Reporters and editors no longer at the Erie Times News include:
- George Miller
- Jim Carroll
- Steven M. Sweeney
- Jim Haynes
- Bob Guerrein
- Dale Shidemantle
- Penny Joint
- Anna McCartney
We’ve been reading some of these folks all of our adult lives, and many became fixtures on their beats. As a road and transportation geek, I rarely missed Jim Carroll’s run down of the latest maneuvering of PennDOT and the airlines. George Miller was a fixture down at City Hall and covered much of the fireworks generated between the Fifth Floor and Council Chambers. And Bob Guerrein always impressed me with his command of the English language and evangelism of good books. All in all, some very essential Erie reporting just walked out into the West 12th Street chill.
It would be a shame to see all of that brain power and writing talent going to waste, so we hope each former ETN staffer will find either retirement or their new employment rewarding. Until we see you again in print, here’s to your next assignment ladies and gentlemen.
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Wow! Lots of loss! Penny was usually the person who called to confirm letters to the editor, yes? I have sent stuff in frequently enough that when the phone rang and I saw that it was coming from the Times News, I picked up the phone and said “Yes, Penny, it was me that sent the letter.” It got a laugh.
It is time to extend an invitation to Roseanne Cheeseman at the Erie Times-News to do a Guest Post at this site from the audience.
She has enough time on the job to know what needed changed, what is in the works to preserve the local paper, and should be able to offer a realistic position to the community on what is needed from them to assure survival of the paper in Erie.
She has nothing to lose and everything to gain by going directly to the public. She has been the most silent publisher to date there.
She should also be prepared to expand on why GoErie never goes. Their effort at Sunday Paper online is abysmal.
Further, all online “newspapers”, update and intertwine story “dates” as news is an ongoing event. The GoErie site closes at midnight and remains a large blank for hours thereafter. How can she change that?
Could ALL management take a 20 to 25% pay cut to preserve the job of investigative reporters?
Why is there a full page Yahoo Jobs at the same time 4 million jobs have gone job-kaput in this land last year?
What consideration has been made to newspaper delivery children for their early jobs as the paper declines home delivery? The ripple effect is closing in already.
What does Ms. Cheeseman like the most about Erie, PA?
What does she like the least, or even hate, about Erie, PA?
When you have been dealt a bad hand, it is time to speak up the truth directly to your audience.
You could do it in the paper, but no one is reading it anymore.
You could speak up on GoErie, but they do not know how to post online and will lose it.
You could speak up HERE, and word-of-mouth, coupled with a keenly interested group, just may have an impact.
The ball is in your court Ms. Cheeseman.
Please address the future of the Erie Times-News now and here.
Also, why not consider a forum at 12th and Sassafras with people who are interested in the Erie Times-News succeeding in town?
Just you and them.
No Kevin, No Pat, No Meads, No One but you to listen to new ideas for survival. There just may be people in town who have pondered it and will not waste their time or breath on the clique that surrounds you. Consider setting a date for that.
If Kevin tells you “we have a reader advisory board,” send him to the men’s room to stay there the entire time you meet with fresh thought folks on saving the paper from impending doom.
Joel says you have cut to the bone.
Deadwood is not bone.
Time is of the essence.
Skip politicians, patricians, and invite ordinary folks plus advertisers, and a couple “techies” to fix GoErie, for a very frank talk. Current newspaper ads are appalling, so the folks who place them need to listen up as well.
PS. In case you decline, it is getting tiresome to turn to page 7C and see a story “continued” from 10C. I have not reached 10C yet and will have to read backwards, just as the paper is going.
PSS. For years, the Morning Call in Allentown publishes the first day of the year, the names of EVERY person who wrote a letter-to-the-editor during the prior year, on a Thank You spot. People appreciate “Thank You”.
Jeff Pinski did not give a hoot….nor Dibble.
PSSS. Consider giving a Sunday paper away gratis to everyone once a year. Builds good will and becomes a total tax write off.
PSSSS. Customers who renew should pay for 51 weeks and get a week free. The next renewal, pay for 50 weeks and get 2 weeks free. Max it at 4 weeks and continue as long as there is unbroken renewal.
The entire freebie group is tax writeoff.
See you at the meeting.
Make it a Saturday so folks can attend and your regulars at work are gone.
CLARIFICATION:
Upon posting I reread my post. One sentence bothers me and would have been better left out.
“Deadwood is not bone.”
Although my reference was to any position that could not be justified as newspapers shrink, there was not an iota of reference in that sentence to anyone who is listed by name by Joel, nor anyone in particular at the paper.
To the extent that any pain ensues in anyone from that sentence, I apologize deeply.
I am intimately familiar with job loss, downsize, consolidations, retrenchments, and the myriad names for “no paycheck next week”. In every case that happened to me, a bit of personal value was removed.
I regret that for those at the paper, and in the community, undergoing the same damages today via job loss under any name.
Jim Carroll was let go??? Joel, I can relate to you: I am a transportation geek and loved reading his clolumn on Mondays and his stories any other time.
Wow. That’s crazy…
[...] week, Joel shared his thoughts about downsizing at the Erie Times-News. He wondered what’s next for many reporters who were integral to the paper for so many years: We’ve been [...]