Saturday, April 13, 2013

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.


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)




  • 1 comment:

    1. That's why it sucks to big low guy on the totem pole. View isn't quite as good.
      But this happens in big business and corporations all over the place. You're noticing it here and calling it out because this is your field of business. But low level employees being cut while management/owners hit it big is going on in corporate America all over the place.

      ReplyDelete

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