Layoffs from McClatchy

Nothing particularly surprising in the latest news from McClatchy. That is perhaps the saddest part. Regular layoffs have become some commonplace in the industry that a routine 10% slash is no longer greeted with any dose of shock.

It appears that many larger papers, such as the Sac Bee, Miami Herald and Fort-Worth Star-Telegram could lose in excess of 100 people each. Unlike prior layoffs, this most reports have the reductions as very broad based rather than just newsroom focused. Some have reported that people have already been let go at some papers. Desperate times do call for desperate measures, but the unilateral nature here feels somewhat wrong.

An article in the Sacramento Bee is particularly haunting. Pruitt is quoted as saying, "I'm hopeful that we'll see some improvement (in revenue) as the year goes on."

Hope is not a strategy.

If it's ever going to stop someone needs to take the reins with an actual plan. Shaving staff as a reaction is too little to late.

Possible strategies:
1. Share production and content even for regional competitors to further reduce newsroom expenses. While this wouldn't be popular with journalists, it might be a proactive measure to shore up in the near term.
2. Restructure Sales Compensation to 100% commission and/or share in the ROI of advertisers. Perhaps they've done some of this, but most newspaper sales teams are commissioned only on incremental revenue. This was mentioned in some of the Tribune statements. Also a focus on advertiser ROI, as difficult as it is to measure, can move incentives in the right direction. The relationship then is one of partner rather than adversary.
3. Purchase ad agencies and/or develop relationships with competitive media to function as a media buyer. 15% of your competition is far better than 0%. A healthy portion of newspaper advertisers would have difficulty with an integrated multi-media campaign. Fill that need.
4. Start charging for all of the "value add" provided to advertisers. Many advertisers already avail themselves of creative services at the newspapers expense. Some of these sales may not be profitable as a result. Determine the true cost of ad placement, creative, tracking (tear-sheets), and account service.
5. Invest in real interactive businesses. Not the ones that provide services to the newspaper industry, but those that have real growth outside of the industry. Use the soapbox still provided by the core product to promote well. Make sure there is a good fit between current audience and acquired product for this very reason. Transform, rather than increment.

These aren't the only potential strategies, nor are they even that well thought (honestly), but it could be the semblance of a plan that employees and shareholders should expect. You have to do something, because hope isn't going to work.

PS - As cold hearted as "suits" like myself are famous for being, I do feel for everyone affected by the downturn and layoffs. I recognize that even the strategies that I have presented above aren't without pain, as well. I wish everyone affected by this and other restructurings the best. I've been through one myself, and I ended up in a much better situation as a result. It just didn't feel like it at the time.