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In a half-hour meeting with Spokesman-Review employees this afternoon, Publisher Stacey Cowles announced that the paper will cut salaries 5% across the board for all managers, all non-union employees and, with their voluntary consent, all union employees. In a prepared statement, Cowles said: “The good news is that we remain a solvent, going concern as a news media organization and our just-released Belden market research shows that our readership levels have remained stable over the past four years. The bad news is that the turbulent and unpredictable nature of the current recessionary economy generally, and the advertising and newspaper markets specifically, is forcing us to cut costs outside our usual budget cycle.” Employees who earn less that $11 per hour will be exempt from the cuts. Cowles concluded: “I cannot guarantee restoration of the reduction, but we may be able to visit this issue in a year, depending on how the economy and our business changes in that time.”
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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keithincda on February 16 at 4:25 p.m.
sounds like the proverbial writing on the wall. I’d dust off the resume DFO see if you can get a paying writing gig or maybe a paying blog gig…;-)
DFO on February 16 at 4:36 p.m.
In this economy, I’m grateful that a 5% cut means a little job stability for the next 6 months or so (although that can change) — and no layoffs in the immediate future. I certainly can live with that. The state of the newspaper certainly isn’t what it once was. I wouldn’t encourage any bright-eyed young newshound to go into the news biz. At one time, I’d planned to retire at 65. Now, I’ll feel fortunate if the newspaper biz can hang on in some shape until I’m 62 — less than 3 years from now. Mebbe things will turn around by then.
JeanieSpokane on February 16 at 4:45 p.m.
You asked earlier how secure we feel in our jobs, or if we even have one. This news regarding the 5% cut has to be unnerving - and yet, a relief, too. I’d much rather take a 5% cut than have my cubicle mate (or even ME) laid off.
A 5% cut in pay would be handled a whole lot easier if expenses also went down 5%. What is with Avista wanting to raise rates; the Post Office; how about gas prices?
I’ve noticed in my own office, after experiencing a 30% downsizing over the last 18 months, that we are living in a new stress - from walking around on egg shells. My stress level is high, my nerves are shot, my humor is ill, my co-workers whisper and whine and bicker, there is more work on my desk but no extra time to get it finished, my dreams at night are of filing, only to return to my desk to more filing, and running out of shelf space to file, and then filing in places i never thought of - like under the desk, on top of files. My dream of retiring at 62 are gone. I’ve moved it up in my mind to 65. And retiring might never happen.
Bent on February 16 at 4:47 p.m.
Man, DFO, if they cut you, they essentially knock HBO in the head. Actually, as long as you don’t have a “non-compete” contract, you could probably take your hucksters into retirement with you… if you can make a little money at it, it might be worth the hassle…
If not, you could probably pick up a column slot in the Cd’A Press. You know what they say — one way or another — we all end up working for Duane… (hopefully you won’t have to go back to Kalispell)
DFO on February 16 at 4:55 p.m.
Bent; one stint on a Hagadone newspaper, 5 years worth, is plenty for me. I’m not about to go to another newspaper either. God willing, I’ll leave the news biz when I leave the SR. I doubt that I’ll take the blog into retirement. But things change.
hmoffsuite on February 16 at 5:09 p.m.
A good friend of mine took an early retirement package last year from the Miami Herald where he had been for 30 years and was a lead writer for hurricanes and shuttle launches. Since then, they have had numerous cutbacks and layoffs but my buddy is busier than ever. He takes writing gigs that he chooses and has more offers than he can handle. A good writer is hard to find and there lots of opportunities from what he tells me. His contacts that he had made at the Herald provide a continual source of engagements. (And, fwiw, Dave Barry is a buddy of his.)
keithincda on February 16 at 5:15 p.m.
a famous billionaire once said:
“Your only defense in a slow economy is your own ability to make money”
That’s why I work all day helping people create their own plan for freedom from the same kind of cut’s you just got DFO. Nothing better than being in control of your own success/future/results.
Joker on February 16 at 5:34 p.m.
Pay cuts are terrible. I feel very bad for anybody who has to do more with less. It’s a sickening feeling to know your paycheck is shrinking.
I am amazed at how bad it really is out there. One of my neighbors just lost their house and another neighbor lost their job. These are good people. They just got swept up in the tsunami.
Bob on February 16 at 7:25 p.m.
Name drop much, Hmoff?
hhuseland on February 16 at 8:41 p.m.
Five percent isn’t the end of the world. It is where these pay decreases stop that might be. I’m wondering if this might be the start of a slippery slide down to much less. Of course, if prices depress as well, it’s all relative. On the other hand, (one handed economist) This, I don’t believe is over with and we could see drops as low as 50%, both prices and wages.
The devil is in the details. If prices and wages fall in an orderly manner, no harm is done. It is, usually the wages that drop first, then prices. That is where disaster strikes.
Joker on February 16 at 8:49 p.m.
Herb,
Uh, I never seen prices on anything go down. Typically they go up up up. In a bad economy, they stagnant a bit. I am not sure what economic handbook your reading from, but I think it was probably written by the people who have brought you cash for gold informercials.
Arpie on February 17 at 7:28 a.m.
Joker,
Look around you. The prices of houses, autos, electronics, and durable goods are all dropping, due to supply surpluses.
Bob on February 17 at 7:33 a.m.
The biggest fear of serious economists is a deflationary spiral. Japan’s still trying to escape one. There are no governmental or market intervention packages that can stimulate an economy out of a deflationary spiral.