After a disappointing quarter, Gannett, America’s largest newspaper chain, started laying off workers at several outlets on Friday.
Gannett-owned media publications in Wisconsin and Texas, Missouri, Minnesota. Massachusetts. Louisiana. Kentucky. Georgia. Florida were all recently terminated. The News Guild of New York. The loss of 20 newspapers across the country has been reported. However, it is unclear how many people have been laid off. After the company suffered a loss of nearly $54million and a 7% drop in revenue, the staff reduction is effective immediately.
“Gannett wants to pretend it can report on our communities with fewer journalists while still spending lavishly on executives. We deserve better, and our readers, equally, deserve better,”Susanne Cervenka (Asbury Park Press reporter) wrote in a statement.on her union’s website. “There is no local journalism without local journalists.”
Gannett’s share price has fallen 54% year-to-date, including 20% in the month of August so far. Mike Reed, CEO of Gannett purchased 500,000 shares from the company this Wednesday for $1.22million.
“Gannett is a total mess, and yet the CEO continues to buy stocks and have the company buy stocks so he can get richer,”Jon Schleuss, president of NewsGuild CWA, stated thatTwitter.
Reed stated last week to analysts that the company would be “taking significant and permanent costs”out of its business, with a focus in print. On Thursday, Gannett employees across America marched to protest the planned cuts.
“When you lose a job, a lot more things in your life are thrown into uncertainty,”Katherine Kokal, a Palm Beach News Guild member, said that the layoffs were causing her to lose her job. Poynter. “It’s not just, ‘OK, I’m not going to log on for work Monday.’ It’s, ‘I need to pay my rent,’ or ‘I might not be able to afford food,’ or ‘How on earth am I going to keep health insurance for my family?’”
The company had announced in June an organizational restructuring. It included two major efforts: Gannett media, which will concentrate on content, and Digital Marketing Solutions that will concentrate on customer retention, acquisition, and maintenance.
Gannett has more than 200 U.S. daily newspapers and more than 16,000 employees worldwide as of 2021.
