It’s a business, man!

Obvious statements in the Newspaper Business:

1) Lots of Readership= lots of Ads
2) Lots of ads = lots of revenue
3) Lots of revenue = success
4) Newspaper Business= Less readership
5) Less readership = Less ads
6) Do we really need to spell this out?

James O’Shea, the editor of the Los Angeles times was fired by publisher Dave Hiller (above) after refusing to carry out $4 Million dollars in budget cuts. Since 2005, O’Shea is the third editor to leave the Times. In 2006, then-editor Dean Banquet also left over cost-cutting issues. Said Reuters: “The Times has struggled along with other media companies in an adverse newspaper advertising environment, and has cut staff and editorial resources in recent years.”

O’Shea didn’t go out quietly. Heres an excerpt from his letter to the Times’ newsroom after his termination:

“(We) didn’t share a common vision for the future of the Los Angeles Times… David decided he wanted to terminate my employment and get another editor.”

Hillers vision? “Closing foreign bureaus and cutting back other parts of the L.A. Times to free up cash for the upcoming Olympics and the presidential campaign.”

Hm. Close, cut back… in the world of business, that usually means termination of employees somewhere down the line. Thats not good, thats not good at all!

It’s a blog eat blog world

In our last post about Gawker, this question was posed: “How much do these bloggers make anyway?”

Answer: we’re not quite sure yet! But this guy knows how much the average journalist who works as a professional blogger makes!

Is it:
a) $20 k
b) $45 k
c) $90k – 120k

Find out how much (and who this guy actually is) after the jump!

When pranks backfire

We like pranks, pranks are fun. Getting punched, on the other hand? Not so much.

There’s no audio, but we kindly provided a transcript for your reading pleasure:

Reporter: are you going trick or treating?
Student: no, I … WHAT THE F_CK?!
Monster: RAAARRR… OOOOOFF!
Student: Ho Ho Ho!

Yikes!

Goodbye Gawker!

In one of her last posts as an editor, Emily Gould used her literary prowess to announce her exit at Gawker.com.

“Yes, also it’s just a job, it’s just a business. Right now, it’s a business that is fairly hell-bent on increasing pageviews in light of the allegedly coming internet advertising downturn—whether that means that content is a tertiary concern after pageview-boosting commenter-friending features and sponsored contests. And still when you work here, Gawker is, to some extent, you.”

She, along with managing editor Choire Sicha, left Gawker at the end of 2007. Goodbye Gawker, hello integrity!

Read more after the jump!

No Compete- Yes downtime!

Though we’re half way into January, the no compete clause that Rick Reilly agreed to when signing on with Sports Illustrated is more like a Santa Claus. Why? Because Rick Reilly gets the best present of all- vacation!

Who wouldn’t want one of those?

It’s not really a vacation, but instead a contractual obligation. According to Denver’s Westworld News, Reilly will not be able to join the ESPN team for a few more months:

“Due to a contractual adjunct known as a no-compete clause, however, he can’t begin his ESPN duties until June 1 — and the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America means that he isn’t allowed to work on film or TV scripts, either.”

…Lucky!

With his down time, Reilly has been able to do a little bit of traveling:

“I just got back from three weeks in Argentina,” Reilly says, “and I’m fixing to go to Tahiti, Thailand, New Zealand, Cabo, Europe. I’m going to drink coffee, play the piano, get up, have breakfast, go back to bed and read, and forget the job. They call it a no-compete clause. I call it bliss.”

No, we’re not jealous. Not jealous at all.

Bad College Media

Many blogs have considered this the next Boom Goes the Dynamite! At least this guy knows he belongs behind the camera.