San Francisco Chronicle Still Desperate, Unions in Talks With Hearst
| Wed Feb. 25, 2009 5:15 PM PST
Representatives from the San Francisco Chronicle's employees unions met with Hearst officials to discuss possible layoffs and wage cuts today, confirms Chronicle spokesman Michael Keith. The layoffs, as I blogged earlier, are meant to offset the $50 million loss the Chronicle suffered last year. Hearst, which owns the paper, has threatened to try to sell it in the case that costs cannot be cut significantly; or close it altogether. No word yet on whether the unions have reached a deal with Hearst. "Today's meeting was just the initial discussion," says Keith. "We're not really expecting anything to come from that."
Hearst hasn't laid out any specific timeline or number of positions to be cut, but one of the unions reports that as of today, at least 50 jobs will be axed. The union also said in a statement on its site that it's discussing removing some jobs from union protection and outsourcing certain positions, among other options. Keith expects the next move is for the two employees unions to meet and discuss options jointly.
"It's really a sign of market failure to imagine a major city like San Francisco without a daily paper," says one Chronicle staffer. The staffer is anxious about the impending layoffs, or worse: if the Chronicle closes, 1,500 people will be jobless.
The Chron need only peer north for sorry company. Hearst also owns the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which it plans to close or produce exclusively online if a buyer cannot be found by the end of March. And even if staff cuts could make up the $50 million, Hearst would still be stuck without a revenue stream. Currently, it costs $10 to produce and deliver a $2 Sunday Chronicle: yes, that's right, ten dollars. Layoffs will barely alleviate that burden, and apparently the paper is hemorrhaging money, losing $1 million a week. It'd take a lot of Extra, Extra to pull out of that hole.
Spokesman Keith says not to expect any updates to the situation soon, but if any insiders with a scoop, e-mail me at jphillips at motherjones dot com, or catch me up in the comments. Some have theorized that Hearst's threat to close the Chronicle "within weeks" is nothing more than an attempt to intimidate the unions or accomplish other nefarious corporate ends. To which I can only say, nefarious? Hearst? Definitely plausible. Other theories?
Hearst hasn't laid out any specific timeline or number of positions to be cut, but one of the unions reports that as of today, at least 50 jobs will be axed. The union also said in a statement on its site that it's discussing removing some jobs from union protection and outsourcing certain positions, among other options. Keith expects the next move is for the two employees unions to meet and discuss options jointly.
"It's really a sign of market failure to imagine a major city like San Francisco without a daily paper," says one Chronicle staffer. The staffer is anxious about the impending layoffs, or worse: if the Chronicle closes, 1,500 people will be jobless.
The Chron need only peer north for sorry company. Hearst also owns the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which it plans to close or produce exclusively online if a buyer cannot be found by the end of March. And even if staff cuts could make up the $50 million, Hearst would still be stuck without a revenue stream. Currently, it costs $10 to produce and deliver a $2 Sunday Chronicle: yes, that's right, ten dollars. Layoffs will barely alleviate that burden, and apparently the paper is hemorrhaging money, losing $1 million a week. It'd take a lot of Extra, Extra to pull out of that hole.
Spokesman Keith says not to expect any updates to the situation soon, but if any insiders with a scoop, e-mail me at jphillips at motherjones dot com, or catch me up in the comments. Some have theorized that Hearst's threat to close the Chronicle "within weeks" is nothing more than an attempt to intimidate the unions or accomplish other nefarious corporate ends. To which I can only say, nefarious? Hearst? Definitely plausible. Other theories?
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Comments
MediaNews Moving in for the Kill?
Submitted by Clara Jeffery on Wed Feb. 25, 2009 6:13 PM PST.
That's my read between the lines of this Editor & Publisher article:
NEW YORK William Dean Singleton, whose company owns nearly every daily newspaper in the Bay Area outside of the San Francisco Chronicle, remained mum on whether he would be interested in the Chronicle following Hearst's announcement that it may sell or close the paper.
With MediaNews Group owning a dozen San Francisco area papers -- including the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune -- speculation has already begun over what he may do as Hearst reveals it needs to severely cut costs in order to stem some $50 million in annual losses...
"We'll just watch it play out," Singleton, who is CEO and vice-chair of MediaNews Group, told E&P Wednesday. "I am not going to speculate on what could happen. It would be futile to speculate on the future."
But with his Bay Area News Group papers successfully implementing many consolidation programs, from news coverage to centralized business operations, Singleton's chain is poised to takeover the Chronicle easily from an operational standpoint....Hearst also owns 31% of MediaNews Group newspapers outside of the San Francisco Bay Area, Singleton said....Still, the two companies have a history of joint partnerships, most recently with four Connecticut papers that MediaNews had managed for Hearst. That arrangement ended last year when Hearst took control of the papers, and also purchased the Connecticut Post of Bridgeport from MediaNews.
Even if MediaNews could not purchase the Chronicle, it could be part of any variety of deals to keep the paper going, through shared content, circulation or other opportunities.
http://tinyurl.com/ab256q
If they have shared interests and some joint ownership already in place, the only thing standing in the way of a merger are laws prohibiting one company control too much of one market's news providers. However, I believe if no buyer can be found, there's nothing to stop one corporation from picking up the remainder of the other. So I bet he's watching it with a lot of interest.
If the union gives ground and Heart still decides to fold the Chron, it'll just be easier for MediaNews to rebuild a Chron/Merc hybrid sans union. But maybe I'm just a cynic.
I don't think MediaNews has
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed Feb. 25, 2009 10:34 PM PST.
I don't think MediaNews has the cash to buy the Chron. There have rumors, probably overstated, that the company would have trouble meeting its own payroll. As to Hearst engaging in union busting: that would certainly be something the company is capable of, but given the reality of a $1 million a week loss, one has to take the situation very seriously. Alan Mutter, the "newsosaur" blogger made an interesting point, saying that Hearst could be stuck for a huge amount of money if it cancels its contract to outsource printing operations. I guess that's a point on the side of the paper staying open. Assuming it does, there will be very very deep cuts in personnel and other areas.
Here's a link to Alan
Submitted by Steven Katz on Thu Feb. 26, 2009 7:33 AM PST.
Here's a link to Alan Mutter's info on what Hearst is proposing: http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2009/02/sf-chron-plan-web-fees-job-cuts.html - major cuts in staff, put ad staff on commission, continue with plan to outsource printing to non union shop in east bay, possibly outsource some editorial to India or Houston (home of the H. Chronicle). On the rev side: raise print sub prices, add pay-per-view on SFGate (both of which sound like non-starters to me).
ANd there's this, from Alex Madrigal and Sara Rich: http://postchronicle.wetpaint.com/?t=anon - imagining the "postChronicle"...a wiki on what a quality daily news "paper" could be for the Bay Area...
sdg
Submitted by modifiye araba (not verified) on Fri Sep. 4, 2009 2:35 AM PDT.
Here's a link to Alan Mutter's info on what Hearst is proposing: http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2009/02/sf-chron-plan-web-fees-job-cuts.html - major cuts in staff, put ad staff on commission, continue with plan to outsource printing to non union shop in east bay, possibly outsource some editorial to India or Houston (home of the H. Chronicle). On the rev side: raise print sub prices, add pay-per-view on SFGate (both of which sound like non-starters to me).
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