Here are a couple of items you'll never read in the Miami Herald

Here's an email Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg sent to newsroom staffers last January.

He'll also be sending out another similarly worded email sometime in July. And in January 2014....

From: From: Landsberg, David
Date: Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 12:20 PM
Subject: Furlough Announcement
To: MIA All Herald Users

To all Herald staff:

Today we are announcing a furlough program for the first half of 2013. Most full-time employees who work a regularly scheduled 40-hour week, including executives and managers, will be required to take one week of unpaid furlough by June 30, 2013.

Nationwide as well as in our business, recovery from the recession continues to be choppy, so we must strive to manage our expenses accordingly.

Furlough information and scheduling forms can be accessed by clicking on this link to HR Forms on HeraldHub. Each division will communicate specifics regarding this program and manage its own process for sign-up and scheduling.

Please know that we are seeing some positive results in our new revenue initiatives despite the uneven economic environment. Your contributions have been key to the accomplishments we’ve achieved in moving toward a successful future.

Thank you for your talent, hard work and dedication.

David

A few days later, Herald TV critic Glen Garvin tweeted this response to Landsberg's email.

Miami Herald announces yet ANOTHER unpaid furlough. Lucky the best things in life are free. Except food. Rent. Electricity. Beer. Etc.
— glenngarvin (@glenngarvin) June 19, 2012

However, that part in Landsberg's email about "managing our expenses accordingly," apparently doesn't apply to the big shots at the Herald's parent company, McClatchy.

Yesterday, the following item was posted on JimRomenesko.com:

McClatchy spends $164,643 to move Kansas City Star publisher to Sacramento

Mark Zieman

Kansas City Star publisher Mark Zieman is named McClatchy operations veep “With his move to the Sacramento metropolitan area from Kansas City to take the position of Vice President, Operations, the Company provided Mr. Zieman with relocation benefits. For 2012, these benefits included shipping household goods, temporary housing and assistance with the sale of his prior home. These benefits totaled $164,643.” – from McClatchy’s SEC filing

McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt resigns to become Associated Press president paintings“Upon his retirement from the Company after nearly 28 years of service, 16 of those years as CEO, Mr. Pruitt was presented with two paintings that had hung in his office. These were valued at approximately $25,000, and after being grossed up for taxes the value of the total gift was $35,848.” – also from the SEC filing

Patrick Talamantes, who replaced Pruitt as McClatchy CEO, made $1.6 million in 2012 and gets a 10% raise in 2013, bringing his base salary from $750,000 to $825,000. In 2012, he got a $270,000 bonus because “under Mr. Talamantes’ leadership, the Company continued to make significant progress in meeting the challenges faced by newspaper companies,” says the filing. [The next time you run into a Miami Herald staffer, ask them when they last got a bonus or pay raise.]

Ex-McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt made $3.6 million in 2012 (mediakc.wordpress.com)

January 2013: McClatchy paper tells employees to take a week of unpaid furlough (jimromenesko.com)

Déjà vu all over again

"It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." -- An American major after the destruction of the Vietnamese Village Ben Tre, Feb. 1968
...
If Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg worked at his paper as a reporter, he'd have been fired long ago for a lack of originality in his writing.

In an email today to newsroom staffers announcing company-wide one-week furloughs for all full-time employees, Landsberg wrote, "The improving trends we've seen in our business results so far this year are real and encouraging, but we continue to experience year-over-year revenue losses." That sentence is a variation on a theme that Landsberg has dredged up numerous times over the past four years.

Last August, in announcing similar furloughs, Landsberg told his staff that, "the company’s efforts to develop new revenue streams aren’t enough to offset prolonged revenue declines.

In May, 2010, in an email announcing mandated furloughs, Landsberg said that while things were improving at the paper, "revenue was still lagging."

In March, 2009, Landsberg ordered job cuts and other "expense reductions" at the Herald that included a cut of 19% in the workforce, pay cuts for all full-time employees making more than $25,000 a year and a loss of an additional one week of pay through unpaid furloughs for full-timers.

Here's the full text of today's email from Landsberg.

From: Landsberg, David
Date: Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 9:57 AM
Subject: 1st Half Furlough
To: MIA All Herald Users

To all Herald staff:

Today we are announcing a one-week furlough program for most full-time employees who work a regularly scheduled 40-hour week, including all executives and senior managers.

The improving trends we've seen in our business results so far this year are real and encouraging, but we continue to experience year-over-year revenue losses. As a result, we must find ways to manage our expenses accordingly, and the furlough is one way we hope to accomplish this.

Employees required to participate in the one-week furlough plan will have until June 24, 2012 to complete their furloughs. Each division will manage its own process for sign-up and scheduling furloughs.

We remain committed to generating new sources of revenue and new ideas to help offset the difficult economic environment. Thank you for your continued hard work and dedication to our mission.

David

Hey, David Landsberg...your pants are on fire!

Miami Herald Publisher David Landsberg.

Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg sent this email to newsroom staffers on Thursday.

From: Landsberg, David
Date: Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 4:46 PM
Subject: 2nd Half Furlough
To: MIA All Herald Users

To all Herald staff:

Today we are announcing a one-week furlough program for most full-time employees who work a regularly scheduled 40-hour week, including all executives and senior managers.

Details about the program can be accessed by clicking on this linkto HR Forms on HeraldHub. Employees will have until December 29, 2013 to complete their furloughs. Each division will manage its own process for sign-up and scheduling furloughs.

While we continue to make a profit, we are still experiencing year-to-year revenue losses. We are committed to generating new sources of revenue and new products to help bridge some of the losses. We know this is a hardship for everyone, and want to thank you for your continued understanding and hard work.

Landsberg has lots of experience writing these emails announcing furloughs. He's been sending out two a year since 2009....just like clockwork.

But it appears he's running out of ways to say essentially the same thing.

Thursday, he wrote: "While we continue to make a profit, we are still experiencing year-to-year revenue losses. We are committed to generating new sources of revenue and new products to help bridge some of the losses." Translation: "We're making money, but it's not enough. "

Last January, this was his spin: "Please know that we are seeing some positive results in our new revenue initiatives despite the uneven economic environment."

In a January 25, 2012 email, Landsberg wrote, "We remain committed to generating new sources of revenue and new ideas to help offset the difficult economic environment."

And in an August, 2011 email to his staff, Landsberg wrote: "the company’s efforts to develop new revenue streams aren’t enough to offset prolonged revenue declines."

By now, Herald staffers are used to getting these kinds of emails. The company first instituted the furlough program in March, 2009... at the same time it cut 19% of its workforce.

The recurring theme in Landsberg's twice-yearly emails is the line where he talks about "generating new sources of revenue and new ideas."

Presumably, one of those "new ideas" is the not-so-new concept of a newsroom that runs 24/7.

Last November, when Landsberg announced that the Herald would be erecting a paywall on its website, he wrote, "We have transformed our business to become 24/7 information specialists."

Of course, saying you have a 24/7 news operation and actually having a 24/7 news operation are two entirely different things. (Copying and pasting information from TV station websites doesn't mean you have a "24/7 news operation.)

So, for the foreseeable future, it appears that furloughs are a permanent part of life at the Herald.

But when you're running an alleged 24/7 news operation, forcing the people who gather the news to take unpaid days off doesn't seem all that innovative.

As one of this blog's readers pointed out a year and half ago, "Laying off reporters to save money makes as much sense as an airline cutting the engines off of a jet to save fuel."



Related: Miami Herald parent company McClatchy spends $164,643 to move Kansas City Star publisher to Sacramento

More bad news at One Herald Plaza

Further proof this week that the Miami Herald just isn't getting the job done: Last week, Miami New Times staff writer Tim Elfrink wrote a short item for the paper's blog about Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Alvarez "posting an official county bid notice for his new work car... a BMW 500i Gran Turismo."

Apparently recognizing a good story when they see one, reporters at CBS4 and NBC Miami followed up this week.

But Anders Gyllenhaal, the Herald's executive editor, has yet to assign anyone to do a story on the mayor's latest attempt to stick it to Miami-Dade taxpayers.

Perhap's Gyllenhaal's lethargy can be explained. Maybe he just doesn't care any longer. Or could it be that he's preoccupied with more of Dave Barry's simpleton humor?

Morale at One Herald Plaza took another hit yesterday when Gyllenhaal and his employees got more bad news.

Miami Herald Publisher David Landsberg informed newsroom staffers via email that they will be required to take a one week unpaid furlough again this year.

Last year, staffers were also required to take a one week unpaid furlough as part of a series of cost-saving measures instituted at the paper.

In his e-mail, Landsberg said that while things were improving at the paper, revenue was still lagging.

Landsberg told affected employees that they must take their unpaid week off before September 30. That prompted one staffer to note that the furloughs will have to be taken in the middle of the summer vacation period. Said the staffer, "Who's going to be left to put out the paper?"

News from One Herald Plaza

from MiamiHerald.com

Ibargüen named to AOL board

Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the Miami-based Knight Foundation, has been named to the board of directors of AOL, the online media company.

"AOL's focus on the delivery and sharing of news and information in communities meets an enormous need in a democracy. The range of their experiments in the field will provide knowledge about what actually will work in the digital age, what will be sustainable and profitable as we adapt to changing technology and customer needs and uses," Ibargüen said in a release.

Ibargüen, a former publisher of The Miami Herald, has been president and CEO of the Knight Foundation since 2005.

There are a few more paragraphs on the Herald's website, but the story - which has no byline - leaves out some facts.

Here's what the Herald didn't post.

Each year, AOL will pay Ibarguen a cash retainer of $100,000 and equity valued at $150,000. Ibarguen will serve on the board's audit and finance committee.

It gets better. According to this story, Ibargüen will "probably only have four meetings or so per year, which suggests he's getting paid $62,500 per meeting."

Meanwhile, over at the Herald, where Ibargüen once served as publisher, staffers learned Monday that they are being forced to take another unpaid one week furlough this year. It will be the fourth unpaid week off since March 2009.

News of the furloughs appeared briefly on the Herald's website Tuesday as part of this story but was deleted later in the day. Here's the missing paragraph:

The deal's end comes at a time when McClatchy is pressed for cash. The Herald announced Monday it would require workers to stay home for one week of unpaid furlough during the first half of 2011, and other McClatchy papers across the country recently announced another round of staff layoffs.

(Here's a Google cache of the page before the paragraph was deleted.)

Before Monday's announcement, the last round of furloughs at the Herald occurred in Sept. 2010 when the paper also eliminated 49 staff positions.

Less than six weeks after those positions were cut, Herald executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal was rewarded with a promotion.

In case you're wondering - Gary Pruitt, the CEO of McClatchy, the Herald's parent company - makes almost $1 million a year. Other compensation puts his salary somewhere near $3,753,229.

The rich get richer and Herald staffers continue to get screwed!

The Big Lie

"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."

"It is not truth that matters, but victory."

...
If there's heaven or a hell or an after-life in another universe, then there's no doubt that Lee Atwater is looking down on the McCain campaign of recent days and smiling.

Atwater was a Republican strategist who perfected a particularly virulent form of dirty politics that he used on behalf of various Republican candidates including George H.W. Bush.

And while Atwater didn't author the above quotes - they were uttered by another politician - he no doubt, knew of them and more than likely adhered to them in principle.

Eleanor Randolph of the New York Times wrote back on Sept. 19 that Atwater knew how to "get inside peoples’ heads." Randolph explains:

One of the cruelest examples of this maneuver involved former State Senator Tom Turnipseed, a South Carolina Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1980. As a youth, Mr. Turnipseed had shock therapy for depression, which he talked about on occasion.

Mr. Atwater, who was working for the Republican, was not sympathetic. He went around the state telling people that the Democratic candidate had once “been hooked up to jumper cables.” No matter how much Mr. Turnipseed talked about education or crime or dirty tricks after that, voters only saw the jumper cables.

For the 1988 campaign to elect then-Vice President Bush, the indelible image that helped defeat Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was a black man named Willie Horton. Willie Horton committed rape while on furlough from a Massachusetts prison under a program that was actually started by another governor, a Republican.

Despite his public denials that he had anything to do with an anti-Dukakis commercial featuring Mr. Horton, this film has Mr. Atwater encouraging an outside group to spread the word. The tactic worked. Mr. Atwater and friends managed to turn Willie Horton’s face into the only thing some voters could remember about the Democratic nominee.

Atwater died in 1991, but as we've seen in recent days, the Atwater style of politics is very much alive.

John McCain and Sarah Palin have trotted out the big lie and smear politics, instigated no doubt, by their campaign advisors who have probably been doing some reading up on Lee Atwater.

Sarah Palin on Oct. 4:

“This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America. We see America as the greatest force for good in this world. If we can be that beacon of light and hope for others who seek freedom and democracy and can live in a country that would allow intolerance in the equal rights that again our military men and women fight for and die for for all of us. Our opponent though, is someone who sees America it seems as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country?”

What better way to distract your followers from the real issues and your own shortcomings as a candidate, than by telling a lie and then repeating it over and over again until they start believing it?

And all of this from a woman, who as mayor of her town, wanted to ban books from the library and as governor reportedly set up a Yahoo e-mail account so she could conduct state business without scrutiny. And now in just the past few days we learn that Palin was running the state of Alaska like some backwater town southern sheriff by abusing "the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to try to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired."

Palin's ugly rhetoric and lies became so intense last week, that some of her supporters on Florida's west coast felt obliged to match her hate speech one ugly word for another with threats shouted from the audience against Obama and some members of the media.

And even though McCain and Palin never said some of the more outrageous things that their supporters are screaming at rallies, they planted the seeds of hate and pollinated them when they sprouted.

Some of their followers have even resorted to making up their own lies. One woman actually believes that Obama is "an Arab."

John McCain, to his credit, has finally decided to scale back the attacks: "I have to tell you — he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared" of "as president of the United States."

With less than a month to go before the election, let's see if McCain and Palin can stick to the issues.

Oh, by the way, who uttered those two quotes at the top of this post? Not a Republican, although they could have been.

They were both said by Adolf Hitler.

More job cuts, furloughs announced at Miami Herald

Less than four months ago Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg announced the elimination of 15 jobs company wide at the Miami Herald.

Today, Landsberg announced he's cutting another another 12 positions.

In an email Monday, Herald Publisher David Landsberg told staff that the company’s efforts to develop new revenue streams aren’t enough to offset prolonged revenue declines.

Landsberg said 13 jobs companywide will be eliminated and about 20 other vacant positions won’t be filled. It wasn’t clear how many of those jobs were in the newsrooms of the Herald and the Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald.

Also, all remaining full-time employees will be required to take a weeklong furlough without pay between September and the end of the year.

The company has already laid off more than 200 employees since 2009. It has also made significant cuts to save money, instituted news-sharing with other South Florida newspapers, reduced the physical size of its newspapers, consolidated sections, and raised prices for subscribers and newsstand buyers in an effort to find an economic balance. Remaining staff have endured pay cuts and furloughs.

In an email to staffers, executive editor Mindy Marques said the newsroom would suffer a "loss of 4.5 existing vacancies, three full-time positions, one part-time position and a reduction in hours for two positions."

Recent voluntary departures from the paper include tech writer Bridget Carey and staff writers Rob Barry, Robert Samuels, Jaweed Kaleem and James Burnett.

Gossip from One Herald Plaza

Miami Herald staffers are still digesting last week's memo from publisher David Landsberg informing them that they will be forced to take an un-paid one week furlough again this year.

And some are wondering if executive editor Anders Gyllenhaal brought back more bad news from Herald parent company McClatchy headquarters in Sacramento. Gyllenhaal reportedly spent a few days there this week where McClatchy's 2010 annual shareholders meeting was taking place.

Some staffers are incensed that the forced one week furloughs will all but wipe out the small gains they realized when 2% pay increases were re-instated this year.

Others are wondering how much more they'll be asked to sacrifice, especially in light of the news earlier this month that "Gary Pruitt, the chief executive of [Herald parent] McClatchy, was paid $2.6 million last year, up 61 percent."

One staffer, when reminded of Pruitt's pay raise said, "Thanks you so much; that's one more reason for me to get shit-faced tonight."

The disappearing newspaper

via Romenesko.

A few items from around the internet today on the current depressing state of newspapers. How long before we hear similar bad news from the Herald?

The Craigslist effect: Cincinnati Enquirer to stop running classified ads on Mondays and Tuesdays

Iowa newspaper suspends print operations

Colorado newspaper stops publishing

Older news:

Seattle Times tells 500 employees to take 5 days of unpaid furlough

Detroit newspapers cut home delivery

More cuts at the Herald; 19% of workforce to lose jobs

UPDATED @ 2:45pm Some of those cut today include Herald director of photography Luis Rios and business editor Lisa Gibbs. Crime reporter Jose Pagliery has been let go but has been told he can freelance. Marsha Halper a 25 year veteran Broward photographer goes from full-time to part-time. John Van Beekum, a 20 year Herald veteran photographer has been cut. Photo editor Suzy Mast, who ironically, escaped with her job at the last minute during the last round of cuts, has also been laid off.


"It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." -- An American major after the destruction of the Vietnamese Village Ben Tre, Feb. 1968
...

Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg sent out a much-anticipated memo this morning outlining yet another round of job cuts and other "expense reductions" at the beleaguered paper.

("Herald executive editor, Anders Gyllenhaal, says in a separate e-mail that the layoffs include 33 full-time and eight part-time newsroom positions. He says some remaining staff will see their hours cut.")

This is the third such announcement in less than a year.

Last June the Herald announced a reduction of 17% of the workforce.

Exactly three months later in September managing editor Anders Gyllenhaal announced another round of staff reductions.

By October of 2008 publisher Landsberg was telling some staffers that further cuts might not be necessary.

Some of the cost saving measures ordered by Landsberg are:

19% of workforce cut.

175 employees will lose jobs.

30 vacant positions eliminated.

Pay cuts for all full-time employees making more than $25,000 a year.

Full-timers will lose an additional one week of pay through unpaid furloughs.

Herald presses will be converted to a 44-inch web format in an effort save $2 million annually in newsprint costs.

Here's the full text of Landsberg's memo:

To: All Employees

From: David Landsberg, Publisher

Subject: Workforce and Wage Reductions

Date: March 11, 2009


Following Monday’s McClatchy Company cost savings announcement, I want to share with you the details for the Miami Herald Media Company. We are announcing plans to reduce our workforce by approximately 19%. About 175 employees will lose their jobs as a result, and we will eliminate another 30 vacant positions, for a total reduction of 205. Reductions will occur in all areas of our operation and at every level in the organization.

Although many of the job eliminations will occur through involuntary layoffs, there also will be opportunities for employees to voluntarily elect a severance package where reductions are occurring in work groups of two or more employees. If enough employees do not take the voluntary option, then the work groups will be reduced either by function or according to least tenure, depending on the workgroup.

Employees affected by this reduction are being notified and provided with information about a transition package. If a voluntary option is being offered to your work group, you will receive written notification with additional information today.

The decisions about where to reduce jobs have been extremely difficult. Please know that we have done everything possible to minimize the impact of layoffs by identifying alternative means of saving expenses, several of which are detailed below.

We will implement pay reductions for all full-time employees making more than $25,000 per year in base salary. For those who earn between $25,000 and $50,000 per year in base pay, the reduction will be 5%. For employees who make more than $50,000 per year in base pay, the reduction will be 10%.

Every employee will receive a letter detailing the impact of the pay reduction in the next few days. These reductions will take effect for the pay period beginning March 23, 2009.

We will also implement a one-week unpaid furlough program. Details on that program, which will begin in April, will be made available in the next two weeks.

Additionally, we are eliminating all 2009 bonuses (MBOs) for everyone in management.

We also are reducing operational expenses in all areas. Among those reductions:

We will convert our presses to a 44-inch web format, which will conserve more than $2 million in newsprint on an annualized basis.

We have leased the sixth floor of One Herald Plaza, and we will consolidate our Dadeland news and advertising operations into other Herald facilities and seek a tenant to lease that office space.

We will cease publication of our International Edition, reducing costs that are now outpacing revenues for that product.

While there will be tightening of news pages on various days, we have worked hard to maintain our newspapers at the quality level our readers have come to expect.

All of these are difficult decisions, especially when it means saying goodbye to so many of our friends and colleagues. But we must make these additional cuts to ensure the viability of our newspapers and to adjust to new competitive and economic realities.

Each of the actions we’re announcing today has been shaped by our commitment to continue to serve readers, advertisers and our community through the vital public service we have provided for more than 100 years. We must keep that mission – and the long view – in our sights. Every day, I hear from readers about the value of the work we do. While forced to make difficult changes, we will not lose focus on continuing to be South Florida’s most trusted source of information.

Again, I want to apologize for the disruption that you have experienced over the last several weeks. We can only respectfully ask, as we have in the past, that you keep your focus and continue to work hard to help our company succeed.

Please contact human resources if you have any questions about the severance program or wage reductions.
Thanks, David.

WLRN's John Labonia: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas [UPDATED 1x]

John Labonia, WLRN's
General Manager.

UPDATED 1x BELOW

Here's something to consider the next time you tune in to WLRN and they're asking you to pledge your hard-earned money to "keep the station on the air."

From Miami New Times:

Miami-Dade County Public Schools and WLRN are both making serious cuts to part-time employee hours, supposedly because of Obamacare.

The cutback will affect "several hundred" school employees, including substitute teachers, custodians, and security guards, according to an MDCPS spokesman. Also seeing their hours slashed are part-time WLRN employees, some of whom are paid by the school district.
[...]
Under Obamacare (officially called the Affordable Care Act, or ACA), large employers must provide health insurance to employees who work 30 hours or more.

Put another way, WLRN and the Miami-Dade County School Board have cut the hours and pay of employees who can least afford it. And just in time for Christmas.

Employees interviewed by New Times "say their hours are being cut from 30 to 25 per week."

A WLRN staffer told New Times, "No one seems to have seriously considered the alternative: that the school district pony up and pay for health insurance for all employees working at least 30 hours.

"I'm sure it would be expensive to cover us," she says. "On the other hand, Starbucks continues to offer its employees health insurance. What's wrong with this picture? What's wrong with this country? Why is nobody talking about this?

"This is a lot of money and a lot of people we're talking about. It looks like they are going to make money on our suffering."

But not everyone at WLRN is suffering.

WLRN's general manager John Labonia is doing just fine, thank you very much.

Labonia has been with WLRN since 2000, and according to one staffer, his tenure has been one of "bullying, harassment and downright evil behavior."

Labonia, at times, runs the station like some 1860s Mississippi plantation owner, thinking up subtle ways to demean and belittle station staffers, and "keep them in their place."

Here's an email Labonia sent out last year to Peter J. Maerz, the station's programming and operations manager:

From: Labonia, John D. 

Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 9:24 AM 

To: Maerz, Peter J. 

Cc: Reilly, Eileen A.; Siy, Bernadette Y.; Barrios, Mario A.; Adam, Margarette

Subject: Routine Cleaning of Radio Studios and Edit Suites

Peter,

Beginning July, 1st all radio personnel will be required to perform routine dusting and light cleaning during their shifts. Bernie is going to speak with Alfred about getting some Swifter dusters and some other light cleaning materials.

Thank you,

John

Meanwhile, one station staffer told New Times that she makes so little "that she hasn't been to a sit-down restaurant in two years."

And Labonia?

Like I said, he's doing just fine.

While his staffers struggle to provide for their families this Christmas, Labonia pulls down a hefty salary - paid for, in part, by Miami-Dade County taxpayers - and lives in a half-million dollar home that sits on a pleasant cul-de-sac in Weston.

Merry Christmas, John!

WLRN General Manager John Labonia lives in a
very nice house in Weston.

_______


UPDATE: Just a few hours after the New Times article appeared online, WLRN's programming and operations manager, Peter J. Maerz, sent the following email to the station's staffers:

From: Maerz, Peter J. 

Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 5:16 PM  

To: [Recipients]

Subject: Thank you

Dear All,

Before I leave for my holiday/furlough period, I want to thank you all for all that you do. I know my thanks will not help to ease the hardships caused by altered work schedules and other difficult conditions here, but I do want to offer them just the same. You guys are the core, the heart of this enterprise. WLRN Radio would cease to exist without you. So thank you for always being there, always doing what’s asked of you and then some, day after day, week after week. You’ve made us what we are and will help to make us what we hope to be.

I hope your holidays are peaceful and fulfilling.

All best,

Peter

Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg leaving one non-profit to work for another non-profit [UPDATED x2]

UPDATED at 1:15 pm. A former Miami Herald staffer reacts to Landsberg's departure:

“I actually feel better about the future of the Miami Herald Media Co. today than at any point over the past 7 1/2 years,” Landsberg said. “We’re on solid financial footing. We’ve got a terrific new workplace that really suits a modern media company and an outstanding staff that’s completely dedicated, capable and will continue to forge ahead.”

From a former Herald staffer:

I don't know what would be worse, if Landsberg actually believes this or if pretending to believe it is the only way he's been able to survive the reality of the Herald's decline without losing his mind.

Solid financial footing? How does this manifest in the company operations? Certainly not in hiring, retention, raises or travel for news coverage. Layoffs, buyouts and voluntary departures have reduced the news staff by what, 70 to 75 percent in the past five or six years? Net newsroom hires from outside the company in that time, even if you include interns who move to staff positions? Probably less than a dozen. Big pay cuts, two weeks of unpaid furlough the past few years and suspended company 401k match. Oh wait-- million-dollar bonuses to McClatchy execs! So inspiring to the rank-and-file.

The "terrific new workplace'' is a half-empty building in the middle of nowhere with all the charm of a strip-mall medical plaza and more flat-screen tvs (such cutting-edge technology!) than reporters.

Where I agree wholeheartedly is with Landsberg's assessment of the remaining staff, who do the impossible every day because they still believe in journalism as a righteous calling and somehow have the strength to forge ahead despite McClatchy's best efforts to destroy a formerly great newspaper.

________

UPDATED at 12:45 pm. Via Huffington Post: Goodwill's Charity Racket: CEOs Earn Top-Dollar, Workers Paid Less Than Minimum Wage.

In 2010, Goodwill Industries International, Inc., the national parent corporation for all of the nation's secondhand clothing affiliates, paid its president and CEO James Gibbons more than half a million dollars in compensation. And dozens of state and local chapters copied the national headquarters' executive extravagance. Here's a rundown of the recent executive compensation packages for the three Florida-based Goodwill organizations that pay some employees less than minimum wage:

$440,197- CEO of Goodwill Industries-Suncoast, Inc.

$316,685- CEO of Goodwill Industries of South Florida, Inc.

$393,001- CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Florida, Inc.

Tommy A. Moore, Jr., Goodwill Industries International's board chair Goodwill's board chair, says, "The board goes through a rigorous process to determine his compensation based on the impact of his leadership, strategic goals and performance."

But, what he doesn't tell you is that the CEO's annual review is less rigorous than the corporation's review of subminimum wage employees, who are evaluated every six months, or sometimes even more frequently. Turner-Little, a spokesman for Goodwill Industries International, Inc., described to me the "lengthy" and "extensive" process.

Last year, the Miami Herald's Doug Hanks reported, "Goodwill places some workers with below minimum wage jobs."

Source: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. 

________

Breaking News: Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg - the man who feloniously cleverly coined the term "24/7 Information Specialists" to describe the Herald's news steamroller - is leaving the paper after 30 years to become president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of South Florida.

But it's safe to say Landsberg will be making considerably more than the sub-minimum wages paid to many Goodwill workers. (Click here or see updates above.)

This morning a Herald staffer told me, "We're sad to see David leave, but those of us in the newsroom will still see him on a regular basis when we visit Goodwill to shop for our furniture and clothing."

From: Alvarez, Lourdes [mailto:lalvarez@miamiherald.com]

Sent: Monday, March 17, 2014 10:06 AM

To: Lourdes M. Alvarez

Subject: PRESS RELEASE: MIAMI HERALD MEDIA COMPANY ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE OF PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER, DAVID LANDSBERG

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MIAMI HERALD MEDIA COMPANY ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE OF PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER, DAVID LANDSBERG

David Landsberg.

MIAMI, FL, March 17, 2014 – After 30 years at the Miami Herald Media Company – the last seven-and-a-half as president and publisher – David Landsberg is leaving to become president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of South Florida. He will remain with the company through mid-April. A search for his successor is underway.

“It's difficult to recognize all of David's many, many accomplishments,” stated Mark Zieman, vice president of operations for McClatchy. Landsberg has spent his entire career working for the Miami Herald Media Company. He arrived from the University of Florida in 1984, attained an MBA from the University of Miami, held a variety of financial posts and rose to CFO, vice president of advertising, general manager and, lastly, president and publisher.

Under David’s leadership, he shepherded the company through a historic recession and the ongoing transformation of the business from print to digital. During the past two years, David also oversaw the relocation from downtown Miami to Doral, including the construction of the new production plant – an enormous undertaking all completed on time and on budget.

“I actually feel better about the future of the Miami Herald Media Company today than at any point over the past seven-and-a-half years,” Landsberg said. “We’re on solid financial footing, we’ve got a terrific new workplace that really suits a modern media company and an outstanding staff that’s completely dedicated, capable and will continue to forge ahead.”

Landsberg’s ties to Goodwill Industries of South Florida run deep. He’s served on the board for 18 years and feels strongly about its social justice mission to employ the disabled. Goodwill has handled all of Miami Herald Media Company inserts since 1995.

Zieman thanked David for his many contributions to the Miami Herald Media Company and to McClatchy over the years and wished him all the best with Goodwill during this morning’s announcement to employees.



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Word document attached.

Media Contact: Lourdes M. Alvarez, Miami Herald, lalvarez@miamiherald.com



Lourdes M. Alvarez

Marketing Manager

Miami Herald Media Company

3511 NW 91 Ave., Miami, FL 33172

E. lalvarez@miamiherald.com

Miami Herald: Publisher David Landsberg leaving Miami Herald Media Co. to lead Goodwill Industries of South Florida

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