I lost 13 co-workers and colleagues yesterday in what started out as a regular day at work.
We came in, listened to the same droll jokes during our annual safety training and then returned to the newsroom. Less than five minutes at my desk and the first co-worker left. An hour later I heard the names of three more.
The day continued that way until shortly after 5 p.m., when a call on my cell phone delivered the final name.
We knew it was coming, of course. The economy has been declining daily for months, and the newspaper industry has been going down with it. Some newspapers are closing, others are cutting home delivery dates. Many -- many -- are cutting staff. We had been warned that our time was nearing.
Knowing it was coming, however, doesn't make it any easier. And I knew the day would be horrid -- either I would be out of a job or I would lose several of my co-workers. It would not be a good day.
And it wasn't.
One colleague was overheard saying that those of us remaining "should be happy that we still have jobs."
I'm grateful. Relieved. But watching as people I have worked with, people I care about, lost their jobs was one of the hardest things I've had to do. There was precious little to be happy about.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Has it really been a month?
Oh, my fellow Whiners, how I've neglected you!
To be fair -- or to have an excuse, because every Whiner has an excuse -- the last 30 days have been, well, interesting.
The newspaper industry is in flux and the paper that employs me is no exception. We're in the final stages of a restructuring/reorganizing that will completely reshape the business as we know it. It's exciting, it's challenging and, quite frankly, it's a little scary. What we are proposing has never been done before -- we will be pioneers. I like that word -- pioneers -- much better than "guinnea pigs."
So there's been that.
Then, and I don't know if you've heard this yet or not, there's this problem with the economy. What used to cost me about $90 every 10 days or so at the grocery store now runs closer to $120. Which means I'm at my second job an extra day each week.
Throw in a couple teenagers, a winter that has filled our household with stomach bugs and sinus infections and, well, you get the idea.
I have been blogging -- just not here. You can catch my work blog at www.mollyrossiter.wordpress.com ... or you can stay tuned and I promise I'll be better here.
Thanks for sticking with me.
To be fair -- or to have an excuse, because every Whiner has an excuse -- the last 30 days have been, well, interesting.
The newspaper industry is in flux and the paper that employs me is no exception. We're in the final stages of a restructuring/reorganizing that will completely reshape the business as we know it. It's exciting, it's challenging and, quite frankly, it's a little scary. What we are proposing has never been done before -- we will be pioneers. I like that word -- pioneers -- much better than "guinnea pigs."
So there's been that.
Then, and I don't know if you've heard this yet or not, there's this problem with the economy. What used to cost me about $90 every 10 days or so at the grocery store now runs closer to $120. Which means I'm at my second job an extra day each week.
Throw in a couple teenagers, a winter that has filled our household with stomach bugs and sinus infections and, well, you get the idea.
I have been blogging -- just not here. You can catch my work blog at www.mollyrossiter.wordpress.com ... or you can stay tuned and I promise I'll be better here.
Thanks for sticking with me.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
A brave new world
My whole life has been about change. Sometimes change came in drastic measures but I can't think, honestly, of any change that has ultimately ended poorly.
In the 18 years I lived with my parents I lived in 13 houses in five states. I attended two of each kind of school: two elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. By the time I got to college I stayed at the same institution but almost always changed my living arrangements with the changing of the semester.
In the years since college I've married, had children, divorced, changed jobs, briefly changed careers, had a long-term boyfriend, ended the relationship with the boyfriend and have lived in another four houses and communities.
Each change brought long-term lessons. I've learned to adapt to new surroundings and celebrate the differences in people. With each change has come an ultimate improvement: more friends, more experiences and better jobs and situations. I've learned that change happens as part of the natural progression. I recognize that just because something isn't right for me now doesn't mean it wasn't right for me back then.
In the last 10 days I've learned of another big change, this one involving my employer, Gazette Communications. While we've known for more than a year there would be some changes coming, I don't know that anyone in the newsroom anticipated the level of change that was being planned.
The company is taking a revolutionary approach to journalism and consumers will soon learn that "The Gazette" is an entire package, one parcel of which is a printed newspaper. There will be a remarkable and new online piece that will change the way those of us now known as reporters will write.
Part of the change internally is a change in jobs for everyone -- not just positions, but in the very definition as well. The jobs we currently hold will, for all intents and purposes, cease to exist. We are all looking at a variety of possibilities to determine where we fit in this "brave new world."
I look forward to this change. Rather than follow the road of layoffs, buyouts and closures that other institutions are facing, the Gazette Family of Companies is confronting the changing way society is getting their news and becoming a bold participant. I love the company that has been my professional "home" for more than three years. When I came to The Gazette in 2002 I said this was the company from which I wanted to retire.
This change is far from being about me. Yet I have to look at the advantages and ramifications such a change will bring to me and to my children. Many questions remain to be answered: how will we be paid, how will the cycle work, what equipment will be provided and is there a place for everyone? In this world of newspaper layoffs, shrinking content and closures, I can only assume the answer to the last question is "no."
We have all been charged with creating a plan of action we would like to take in the new structure. As I look at my own plan I can't help but wonder if, although The Gazette was right for me three years ago, it is still right for me now.
In the 18 years I lived with my parents I lived in 13 houses in five states. I attended two of each kind of school: two elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. By the time I got to college I stayed at the same institution but almost always changed my living arrangements with the changing of the semester.
In the years since college I've married, had children, divorced, changed jobs, briefly changed careers, had a long-term boyfriend, ended the relationship with the boyfriend and have lived in another four houses and communities.
Each change brought long-term lessons. I've learned to adapt to new surroundings and celebrate the differences in people. With each change has come an ultimate improvement: more friends, more experiences and better jobs and situations. I've learned that change happens as part of the natural progression. I recognize that just because something isn't right for me now doesn't mean it wasn't right for me back then.
In the last 10 days I've learned of another big change, this one involving my employer, Gazette Communications. While we've known for more than a year there would be some changes coming, I don't know that anyone in the newsroom anticipated the level of change that was being planned.
The company is taking a revolutionary approach to journalism and consumers will soon learn that "The Gazette" is an entire package, one parcel of which is a printed newspaper. There will be a remarkable and new online piece that will change the way those of us now known as reporters will write.
Part of the change internally is a change in jobs for everyone -- not just positions, but in the very definition as well. The jobs we currently hold will, for all intents and purposes, cease to exist. We are all looking at a variety of possibilities to determine where we fit in this "brave new world."
I look forward to this change. Rather than follow the road of layoffs, buyouts and closures that other institutions are facing, the Gazette Family of Companies is confronting the changing way society is getting their news and becoming a bold participant. I love the company that has been my professional "home" for more than three years. When I came to The Gazette in 2002 I said this was the company from which I wanted to retire.
This change is far from being about me. Yet I have to look at the advantages and ramifications such a change will bring to me and to my children. Many questions remain to be answered: how will we be paid, how will the cycle work, what equipment will be provided and is there a place for everyone? In this world of newspaper layoffs, shrinking content and closures, I can only assume the answer to the last question is "no."
We have all been charged with creating a plan of action we would like to take in the new structure. As I look at my own plan I can't help but wonder if, although The Gazette was right for me three years ago, it is still right for me now.
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