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Philadelphia Inquirer Guts Almost 50% of Sales Staff
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It’s a really bad time to work in legacy media.
Newspapers and television stations were already declining before 2020 dropped another turd sandwich on us in the form of a global pandemic, which has resulted in more layoffs and buyouts and than we can keep track of.
In addition to Eyewitness News unceremoniously dumping 14 people on Tuesday, Jeff Blumenthal over at the Philadelphia Business Journal has some details on the Philadelphia Inquirer doing the Thanos routine with the sales department:
At the Inquirer, there were 32 buyouts and layoffs, with 26 emanating from the advertising department and six from the newsroom.
In late April, management offered buyouts to all 55 members of the advertising department. According to an April 22 bulletin sent by Guild Executive Director Bill Ross and President Diane Mastrull to membership, layoffs would follow if at least 20 staffers in the department did not voluntarily apply for the buyout package.
Ross said Thursday that 20 members of the advertising department accepted the buyouts and the Inquirer laid off six other employees. This is the company’s fourth staff reduction in five years.
On the news side, Bob Ford also took a buyout, which he announced back on April 29th.
But yeah, I mean, Jesus. The Inquirer has been cutting staff regularly for half a decade now, which makes you wonder where this ends.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com