In case folks did not see this today, the Dogpatch is laying off 45 people in the newsroom, effective April 3. http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...h03.ART_ART_03-03-09_C10_FDD3J9T.html?sid=101 I am wondering how this will affect coverage of the Crew this season. You can bet that they will not dial back their coverage of the Buckeyes, though the folks that cover the Buckeye may be permitted to cover the Crew when that does not conflict with tOSU. You also know that coverage of the Clippers will be heavier, given the new stadium.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? I saw Shawn Mitchell and Michael Arace in the soupline this morning. They told me they're pretty sure there will be no coverage this year.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? I have a friend who is a graphic designer/layout for The Dispatch. He told me that, on Friday, they had a big potluck and everyone was happy and jovial. Right as the potluck was ending, Marrison stands up and tells everyone that they have to report on Monday for a meeting, even if it is their day off/vacation, etc. So, everyone knew on Friday that layoffs were being announced on Monday. Way to kill a party, Marrison.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Will Mitchell go? Difficult to say at this stage. 45 is a big number to cut out of any newsroom. Last time they tried to get rid of the columnists (high earners) by offering various packages.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? There are few details, if any, out there now. Apparently people affected are being told. 45 people is slightly less than 1/4 of the newsroom. Here's a rundown of the sports department based on the Dispatch Blogs Page Ken Gordon & Tim May - OSU Football Bob Baptist - OSU Men's Basketball Jim Massie - OSU Women's Basketball Aaron Portzline & Tom Reed - Blue Jackets Jeff Thitoff - Fantasy Football Shawn Mitchell - Crew Rob Oller - Columns, golf (w/ Bob Baptist) Mark Znidar - Auto Racing (with Tim May) Columnists: Arace, Hunter, Todd Jones I'm sure there are a few others in the newsroom as well. Let's put the number at a nice, round 16. If the cuts are made evenly across the board, that means 4 must go. If we're making the cuts by how little the writers contribute to society/the daily paper, Oller, Jones, Thitoff and Znidar are gone IMHO. If we assume the latter two are on half time, then Reed is probably next to worry with Massie after that. Realistically, I'm guessing they'll cut one or two no-name staffers. Being that they want to focus on local sports, I'm guessing Mitchell is safe for now. I'd be worried if I wrote about auto racing or fantasy football, though. Also if I were doubled up on a sport not named OSU football. Sadly, I'd be shocked for them to cut Oller given the Memorial tournament prestige around here. But I'm not sure why Todd Jones is even at that paper other than to draw an undeserved salary at this point.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? The Dispatch story said they want to focus more on local sports so I would think that Mitchell should be safe, especially with the announcement of the CrewExtra website that will go along with the new TV deal this year.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Assuming it isn't cancelled due to the cuts. Who knows, this is where they may try out their interns too....
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? I'm surprised they would announce something like CrewXtra.com and not even put up a sign on the site saying "its coming soon" or anything. Heck the .com was bought in March of 08 and still the site doesn't have anything.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? I've been looking for a job trying out interns for years now. Damn. It's a shame that the daily paper is going the way of the Dodo bird, but then nobody at The Dispatch cried much when the Citizen Journal went under not so long ago. Like everyone else who stopped getting the paper, I don't have much room to complain. I used to devour three papers a day, sometimes four. Now I only buy one when I'm going for a haircut, so the girl doesn't chatter at me. Great cutter, boring human. They should have refined their focus to local stuff years ago. Why they need to send people to the Super Bowl and crap like that is beyond me.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? I just get Saturday and Sunday because it's just not the weekend without a paper to read and it gets me the online stuff I want (mostly specific stories and the comix). But, I must admit, I am more willing to pay for it now than I used to be, as long as the local content is good. If it's not local, fuggedaboutit. One of the reasons my dial sticks to 610 is that they just have a ton more local content than the next guy--not because they run conservative stuff (even though I tend toward conservatism, I've had about enough of Limbaugh though I do listen to Hannetty now and again as he at least has liberals as friends whereas Rush doesn't seem to think they are human any more).
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Not so long ago? It was 24 years ago. Now I feel pretty old. But I'm probably one of the few that remembered when the Dispatch was an evening newspaper. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Columbus_Citizen-Journal
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Hopefully the mods don't decide to delete this because it is very related to the subject. For a class of mine we are conducting a survey about online media usage and how people get their local content vs national and international news. If anyone has a couple minutes to take a survey I'd appreciate your help. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=bSFBX9BtvKqXSjVkdd5lpQ_3d_3d
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Archer reads a newspaper while getting a haircut? I have to admit that's a pretty dope mental image.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Then you probably remember that there was a Columbus Citizen and a Columbus Journal.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? I heard it was Crewture's coverage of the civic discontent brewing between Seattle and Columbus that did in the Dispatch. Their arsenal of reporters could not equal the scoops of one kid in his parents basement.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Man, must be some other kid, I live in an studio apartment by myself in Columbus.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Todd Jones still works for the Dispatch? He used to be Crew Hater #1 back in the day. I saw one of his columns a few years ago, but didn't think it was in Sports.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Steve Blackledge and a few other names pop up frequently for high school sports.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? I still get daily delivery though I'm not sure why. The paper is noticeably thinner than even two years ago. I read the sports and metro sections while eating breakfast and occasionally the comics or movie or tv listings. Their national and international news is pathetic compared to what's on the internet so I'm not sure why they bother. Some of those bloggers must be unpaid or happen to work for the Dispatch in another department. Fantasy football? Women's basketball? Jones? Znidar? those are places to cut. They could easily have their OSU guys cover other sports. I think the local high school games are called into them by an athletic director or someone else not on the payroll.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? Typically they'll cover one or two "marquee" high school games (both football and basketball), and then copy editors take phone calls from coaches/AD on the other games (usually the home team's job to call, iirc). What's sad is the downward spiral the industry appears to be locked in. People choose to get their news for free online (including myself), which limits how much the paper can cover, which results in even less news, which results in fewer folks subscribing, and so it spins. Eventually, I wouldn't be suprised to see some type of "tiered" online system, where non-subscribers can only access a portion of the day's paper, while those who either subscribe to the print edition or buy an online subscription have access to the entire paper. While it might be easy to say "Well, some papers are free online", a pretty big percentage are either going to have to force readers to pay for something (as online ad sales don't nearly make enough to do the job), or they're going to downsize themselves to nothing.
Re: Dispatch to Lay of 45: Impact on Crew Coverage? I'm beginning to realize that I am actually now willing to pay for some of this, if they could figure out an easy way to do it. Time will tell. My guess is that a lot of papers will go under in the current economic climate, and I am waiting for the first major city to lose *all* of its newspapers (or even the first medium city).