[media death spiral] An inside look at the Paramount culling

[Michael King]

I've been quiet about this, but I was part of the 800 folks that Paramount unceremoniously tossed to the four winds a couple of weeks ago. A news producer in Detroit who was also part of the culling happened to record her layoff as it took place over Zoom. 

She'd moved to Detroit from elsewhere to take the job three months ago, then got dumped two weeks ago tomorrow. I'd been working for the Atlanta O&O ex-CW, now independent station for two and a half years before getting the boot. 

At least my firing took place in person. 

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2024/2/25/cbs-oampo-producer-records-herself-being-fired

[James S. Barr]

I went through a similar situation nearly eight years ago.  I had relocated to a new apartment less than five miles from work.  The management assured me that all was well and encouraged me to make my move.

Three weeks after my move, on a nice, bright spring morning, I was blindsided when my employer decided to lay off seven of us, plus myself.  Their claim was “budget cuts”.  The company had spent a good amount of money a couple of weeks earlier on flying in employees from one of the other offices and renting a conference room at a hotel for a “Vegas Night” for employees with prizes.  I had only been with them for five months and was out of work for only two weeks before I settled into a three and a half year run with another company in Dallas.

Out of a small concidence, this fell one day shy of one year since I had been let go by another company, that time was due to a corporate reorganization.  

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[Debbie Speer]

Wow and then there's the Catherine Herridge purging at CBS News, but this isn't the time. Dang.

I survived a massive "streamlining of efficiencies" some 5 years ago after 20 years, only to be kinda shoved in a corner while the new ownership brought in inexperienced kiddoes I'd helped train to promote into leadership roles. They aren't laying off (concert industry? money flowing like water for them), and they have no cause to fire me so I'm just the 'elder stateswoman" they all feel free to disappear. So I was looking for something else about a year ago (still am, if anyone knows of anything, preferably remote!). It turns out the managing editor of my once-and-again hometown newspaper was a college mentee of mine, found out I was back in town and asked if I'd be interested in working for them "should the opportunity arise."  No brainer. Hell yeah. 

So about a week later, the executive editor calls me up and asks me to come in and interview. We have what I think is a great interview, she said she liked my clips, had an opening writing features in their monthly magazine and entertainent sections, all looks great. Then, crickets. Still crickets. Turns out not 2 weeks after my interview, they laid off a guy they'd only hired a few months earlier, and who had moved from Orange County (he's doing OK; he got on with a Scripps-owned TV station here). They're down to five or six reporters now, and the managing editor is doubling as business editor, too. So maybe I dodged a bullet.

I'm really sorry to hear about this, Mike and James. But don't call it "culling" -- around here, that's what you do to a herd of cattle and the culled don't survive it. Saint Linda of Ellerbee said, "Everyone in this business gets fired at least once. If you have never been fired, you are not trustworthy. I have been fired."  I have, too. Good luck... shitty market for journos, but I still believe. 

-Deb

..."by god it's shorter"

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[Mike Ward]

A formal WAKR colleague of mine just moved from CBS Detroit to CBS Philadelphia. I hope he's safe. 

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