Spokesman Review Gaming the System

The other shoe dropped at the Spokesman Review yesterday as the final layoff notices were posted. Almost 30 people are gone from the newsroom. But it appears as if SR management is gaming the system. The three person radio staff producing newscasts for KJRB, which includes one manager, will move to sales and marketing. Two concerns here. The first is that the SR’s newsroom employment contract calls for a consistent proportion between reporters and managers. In other words when layoffs come on the reporting side an agreed upon number of managers must also be sacked.

But what the SR has done is simply move three people from one line item to another---including manager Dan Mitchenson. The company’s not saving any money; costs are simply transferred to another department. That’s good for Dan and his colleagues who will apparently remain employed but others didn’t have that choice. The SR says it’s contractually bound to produce radio news---always thought this to be bizarre but that’s another discussion---so it had to somehow keep the staff. Small comfort for the folks who are print reporters working for a newspaper that thinks it’s in the broadcasting business.

The bigger concern is credibility. I’ve known Dan and reporter Dick Haugen for several years and know they are honorable, honest and credible reporters. But now they’ll be working for sales and marketing---the Dark Side we call it in broadcasting. What this means is that all of the newsroom values no longer apply and that many stories will be off limits. Shaun Higgins, the radio folks’ new boss, is also a man above reproach---I like him a lot. But I’ve seen too many times over the years where the sales side wins arguments against news. Hope it doesn’t happen here. But as I’ve said repeatedly that while the game’s changed and the old rules don’t apply, the pressure to conform to outmoded models and ideas such as controlling news content to satisfy advertisers is stronger than ever.