Say what you will about the rest of the floundering U.S. newspaper business, but at least Houston Chronicle publisher Jack Sweeney is keeping abreast of this whole Internet thing.
The Chronicle said on Tuesday it will axe 5 percent of its 1,400 workers amid a downturn in its advertising performance. An article on the paper’s Web site also quoted Sweeney as saying things aren’t looking much better in 2008.
I called Sweeney after seeing the Chronicle story and a memo he wrote that Jim Romenesko posted on his journalism blog. Sweeney wouldn’t tell me much more than was in the paper, but did offer this industry view:
“It’s a very hard thing… I mean, nobody’s sitting here and twiddling their thumbs like at most newspapers, (but) we really need to operate differently and at less cost.”
You hear that, guys? The time for twiddling is over. Now get back to work!
Trackback
