Is the Sun-Sentinel Circling the Drain?

[JN]

Even up to two years ago, a threat like this by owners would be laughed at by the unions. Today, it seems completely credible. I don't know why they're still laughing.

Boston Globe owner threatens to shut newspaper down

updated 4:57 a.m. EDT, Mon May 4, 2009

(CNN) -- The Boston Globe management warned the newspaper's four unions Sunday that failure to reach a financial concession would force the company to file a notice to shut down, the Guild said in a statement.

The notice would allow The New York Times Co., which owns the Massachusetts newspaper, to close it in 60 days, the Globe reported.

The Times Co. is seeking $10 million from the Boston Newspaper Guild, $5 million from the mailers, $2.5 million from the delivery truck drivers and $2.2 million from the press operators, the Globe said.

The Guild, which is the main union, represents more than 600 editorial, advertising and business office workers, according to the Globe.

"We have provided our unions with a copy of a notice that we are prepared to file if we are unable to reach an agreement by the midnight [Sunday] deadline," Globe spokesman Robert Powers told the newspaper. "This notice is required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires 60 days advance notice before the closure of a business."

The Guild said the ultimatum was issued after it presented management with a proposal that exceeds the $10 million in cuts demanded.

"This tactic, while expected, is representative of the bullying manner in which the Times Co. has conducted itself during these negotiations," the Guild said in a statement.

"Despite the company's hostile tactics, we continue to negotiate in good faith and work diligently toward an acceptable outcome," it added.

In addition to the about $20 million in givebacks, another key disagreement was over a quest to eliminate job guarantees that affect about 450 union employees, the Globe reported. A Times spokeswoman told the newspaper early Monday that talks were continuing past deadline.

The negotiations follow a gloom outlook for the 137-year-old newspaper, which is expected to lose $85 million in 2009 if it does not make major cuts, according to the Times Co.

The Globe's profits have plummeted as newspaper readers and advertisers have shifted online.

Powers said filing a notice to shut down would be a difficult but necessary option.

"Unfortunately, given the state of the negotiations, it is one we must be prepared to take if negotiations are not successful," he said.

The developments come amid a raft of newspaper closings and cuts that have seen the end of print editions of The Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado; The Seattle Post-Intelligencer; and The Christian Science Monitor.

The Rocky Mountain News shut down completely; both the Seattle paper and the Christian Science Monitor remain in online editions.

The company that owns the Chicago Sun-Times and 58 other newspapers and online sites said in late March that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. said it would continue to operate its newspapers and Web sites as usual while it improves its cost structure and stabilizes operations.

© 2009 Cable News Network

[Yogamom]

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/

The Sentinel And The Damage Done

By Bob Norman Tuesday, May. 19 2009 @ 5:06PM

Names are starting to stream in from the lastest layoffs at the Sun-Sentinel. As always, I'm going to compile them as they come in. This has caused a small bit of controversy in the past, but it's done in the name of honoring those who are leaving and informing the public of exactly what it's losing at Broward's (less) big daily.

I have also been looking into reports in comments below that there have been layoffs in the classified department and that the department is going to be outsourced to Chicago. I think it's safe to say the latter is true. I called a classified sales agent today and she said the calls would be routed to the "call center in Chicago." I haven't been able to confirm layoffs. I got Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman on the phone in Chicago, and all he would give me were corporate platitudes. "We are constantly trying to improve the business model," he told me. "We are doing a number of things to be efficient across the company. Getting into the nitty gritty details is not something I'm going to do."

He told me to call Jennifer Sacks, the Sentinel spokeswoman. She told me that whatever was happening in classifieds was something she couldn't "expand on."

Isn't it great how the Sun-Sentinel is so accountable to the public about what's going on? For them, it's all about sunlight, openness, and the power of the truth -- as long as it's another company.

They're also keeping the layoffs a secret, of course, but here's the beginnings of the list, which comes from several sources (including a comment below). I'll be updating as information comes to me. I'm not going to comment on the individual names, but to say there are some great people on this list already.

-- Book Editor Chauncey Mabe

-- Consumer watchdog reporter McNelly Torres

-- Multimedia reporter Sallie James

-- Federal courts reporter Vanessa Blum

-- Reporter Andrew Tran

-- Editorial writer Alva James-Johnson

-- Assistant business editor Paul Bomberger

-- Reporter Luis Perez

-- Photographer Lou Toman

-- Editor for News Research, Training and Readership Gail Bulfin

-- Home & Garden Editor Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub

-- Features copy editor Laura Kelly

-- Assistant Sports Editor Tom Christensen

-- Photographer Scott Fisher

-- Designer Dan Gordon

-- Designer Xavier Maranon

-- Copy Editor Tim Dodson (a part-timer who'd already taken a buyout)

[bigbill]

I saw an ad for electronic delivery of the Sun Sentinel for $4.99 a month -- supposed to be the exact format of the hard copy. Also would deliver hard copy of Sunday ads and coupons to your home. I may do it just so I won't have nearly as much to carry out in my recycle bin.