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Guest	Post subject: Jujyfruits for thought Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2002 5:39 pm
	A report from the current Washington City Paper ... any retort, Susan?<p>"It's been a tough year for staffers at U.S. News & World Report. • In the ad slowdown following Sept. 11, management cut salaries by 10 percent and laid off about 25 employees. The company held out the prospect of restoring the cuts sometime in 2002. • This fall, management said it couldn't yet rescind the salary cuts. • In recent months, several veteran reporters have accepted the early retirement buyouts pushed aggressively by U.S. News higher-ups. Staffers have taken to calling the buyouts "get-outs." Then came the most striking blow yet, via a companywide Nov. 18 e-mail titled "Snack Vending Machine News": "Due to a lack of sales in our three snack vending machines, Custom Vending is removing two of our machines. Our vending machine in the third floor kitchen (Room 3115) will remain. The machines on the second and fourth floors will be removed this week." Snaps one staffer at the newsweekly: "I can't even get a damn chocolate bar!" Employees attribute the slack in snack sales to the gradual attrition at the magazine, whose ad sales lag behind those of competing publications."
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SusanV	Post subject: Re: Jujyfruits for thought Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2002 7:25 pm
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 1399 Location: In the newsroom	<blockquote><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Jim Thomsen: A report from the current Washington City Paper ... any retort, Susan?<p>"It's been a tough year for staffers at U.S. News & World Report. • In the ad slowdown following Sept. 11, management cut salaries by 10 percent and laid off about 25 employees. The company held out the prospect of restoring the cuts sometime in 2002. • This fall, management said it couldn't yet rescind the salary cuts. • In recent months, several veteran reporters have accepted the early retirement buyouts pushed aggressively by U.S. News higher-ups. Staffers have taken to calling the buyouts "get-outs." Then came the most striking blow yet, via a companywide Nov. 18 e-mail titled "Snack Vending Machine News": "Due to a lack of sales in our three snack vending machines, Custom Vending is removing two of our machines. Our vending machine in the third floor kitchen (Room 3115) will remain. The machines on the second and fourth floors will be removed this week." Snaps one staffer at the newsweekly: "I can't even get a damn chocolate bar!" Employees attribute the slack in snack sales to the gradual attrition at the magazine, whose ad sales lag behind those of competing publications."<hr></blockquote> Yeah. The person who wants the chocolate bar--and no, I haven't a clue who that was--could get off his/her ass and come down to the third floor!<p>Seriously...the comment about lagging ad sales hits me as a bit disingenuous. Or at the very least, questionable. We're a smaller publication to begin with. And everyone's sales are down.<p>The whole column seems to be just one more exercise in petty Snews bashing, something the City Paper seems to delight in. I'm still trying to figure out who Mort pissed off over there. ;)
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vtuss	Post subject: Re: Jujyfruits for thought Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 1:50 pm
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 476 Location: Twin Cities	I am surprised there wasn't more talk about the first part of the column, about a continual rewrite of a Post story that resulted in a 350-word correction.<p>You can find it at: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/archives/media/2002/media1213.html
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Rio	Post subject: Re: Jujyfruits for thought Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 3:49 am
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 887 Location: U.S.A.	<blockquote><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Vince Tuss: I am surprised there wasn't more talk about the first part of the column, about a continual rewrite of a Post story that resulted in a 350-word correction.<p>You can find it at: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/archives/media/2002/media1213.html<hr></blockquote><p>Yes, that was interesting. Also intriguing was the comment at the end of the article:<p>By the end of this year, U.S. News will have had five weeks in which it didn't produce a magazine—double the tally of 2001.<p>Susan, what week in 2001 did you guys produce only half an issue? :)
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SusanV	Post subject: Re: Jujyfruits for thought Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2002 6:43 pm
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 1399 Location: In the newsroom	<blockquote><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Gary Kirchherr: <p>Yes, that was interesting. Also intriguing was the comment at the end of the article:<p>By the end of this year, U.S. News will have had five weeks in which it didn't produce a magazine—double the tally of 2001.<p>Susan, what week in 2001 did you guys produce only half an issue? :) <hr></blockquote>Hehe. I did catch that when I read it originally. I figured it just proved my point as to how lame the piece was.<p>Although some might argue that any of the August books was only a half issue. I admit, they were very thin.<p>[ December 17, 2002: Message edited by: SusanV ]</p>
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