Tulsa World lays off 28 employees

[kylieosu]

Ouch.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090106_11_0_TheTul258499

[Michael71]

I am really getting worried now!

[cannon_fodder]

My primary concern:  is Eric Bailey still employed there?  

Anytime a paper cuts back it cuts back on its content.  Which cuts back on its readership. Which cuts back on its ad revenue.  A horrible spiral.

Too many local papers are AP wire conduits only.  I can read the wire online just fine.  My interest is in local reporting:  TU Sports coverage, development, crime reporting, local government.  LOCAL things that other sources don't spend the resources to dig up.

I hope that coverage doesn't suffer.

[RecycleMichael]

My mother and wife were both reporters at one time in their life. There is life after working at the newspaper.

I hope each of the workers find employment soon.

[Townsend]

"Based on the response of our readers, Tulsa World has elected to disable comments for this article."

I can't even begin to fathom the comments made by the ogres in the Tulsa World Comment universe.

[sgrizzle]

I heard that the Lortons were heavily invested into buying another newspaper earlier this year (likely why they cut back in March) and were close to completing the sale when the economy tanked. Now they can't secure the financing and can't complete the sale which hurt them.

Also, they had upped the individual paper cost and upped the pay to their box route carriers (retail stores and vending machines) in response to gas prices, then gas prices subsided. That had to also hurt.

As far as less advertising, that is untrue. There were more end-of-year sales ads this year than previous years. They may be predicting less advertising early in '09 but the first part of the year is always low on advertising revenue for papers.

[sillybrigid]

I wonder how long it'll take before there is no more print version of the Tulsa World.

My dad was one of the casualties this time, and I lost my job when they shut down Community almost a year ago. This is a lot of displaced journalists. I really hope there are enough PR/writing/burger flipping jobs to go around.

[Gold]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

My primary concern:  is Eric Bailey still employed there?  

Anytime a paper cuts back it cuts back on its content.  Which cuts back on its readership. Which cuts back on its ad revenue.  A horrible spiral.

Too many local papers are AP wire conduits only.  I can read the wire online just fine.  My interest is in local reporting:  TU Sports coverage, development, crime reporting, local government.  LOCAL things that other sources don't spend the resources to dig up.

I hope that coverage doesn't suffer.

+1

They have an agenda, a lot of people don't like that agenda, and they sometimes get some things wrong.  But bottom line, a locally owned paper is a good thing for a city like Tulsa and we should be thankful for the World and its resources.  There isn't a better source for local information in terms of depth and consistency.  

Another board that I follow from time to time had a poster from El Paso who asked about the former TPS superintendent -- they just hired him.  Their local paper didn't even do the legwork to figure out how much he was disliked here, which at a minimum would have taken a Google search.  That is a paper that is no longer locally owned and, in theory, lacks the interest in quality, in-depth reporting.

Furthermore, it's just bad to lose jobs like this (even if they aren't the best paying) because they keep and attract talented people in Tulsa.

And I have the same thoughts on Bailey and I also hope Trammel still is there for years to come.  Now if Dave Sittler found a pink slip in his hotel in Miami this morning, I wouldn't shed too many tears. []

[sgrizzle]

I wouldn't mind if the grumpy old guy on the front page of the editorial section retired.

[RecycleMichael]

Anybody heard any names yet?

[Hometown]

Question and comment:  

Question:  sgrizzle.  What other paper?  Local?  Another city?

Comment:  It might not be a bad arrangement for Tulsa if the Daily Oklahoman or the Dallas Morning News had a good sized Tulsa Bureau generating local content for a Tulsa edition.

I grew up with the Tulsa World but in all honesty I think she has had a negative net impact on Tulsa.  She is the voice piece and the apologist for the Good Old Boys that have put Tulsa in her current predicament.

[sgrizzle]

Another city, although I haven't been able to find out which city it was.

[TURobY]

quote:Originally posted by Hometown


Comment:  It might not be a bad arrangement for Tulsa if the Daily Oklahoman or the Dallas Morning News had a good sized Tulsa Bureau generating local content for a Tulsa edition.

No thanks! The Daily Oklahoman is constantly called the worst newspaper in America. Not really something that I would want here in Tulsa.

[kylieosu]

quote:Originally posted by TURobY

quote:Originally posted by Hometown


Comment:  It might not be a bad arrangement for Tulsa if the Daily Oklahoman or the Dallas Morning News had a good sized Tulsa Bureau generating local content for a Tulsa edition.

No thanks! The Daily Oklahoman is constantly called the worst newspaper in America. Not really something that I would want here in Tulsa.

Agreed. I can't STAND The Daily Oklahoman.

[Hometown]

I've Never Seen the Daily Oklahoman.  Worst paper.  I believe you.  But I have to say that the Tulsa World is pretty rank as papers go.

If Tulsa really wants to change she is going to need to change some major players.

Major new money in town would upset the apple cart.  Walton, et cetera.

Losing the Tulsa World would too.

Otherwise it's the same old crowd doing the same old thing as time passes us by.

The company town that lost the company.