Those of you living in the San Diego area might have missed the announcement -- it was buried in business briefs in this morning's paper that the Union-Tribune like many other newspapers around the country, is trimming its newsroom staff.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, if you want better reporting on a newspaper's woes, you've got to go to a competitor. Media outlets are notoriously bad at covering themselves. The Voice of San Diego report is here.

As I noted in the post title, I still have a job right now -- though I am on vacation this week. Among those posiitions they want to eliminate are two page designers. I know that they'll get at least one voluntary taker -- a 20+ year veteran who will be sorely missed, but who was hanging on in the hopes that another buyout offer would come along.

So, while I'm not out of the woods just yet, I think the likelihood that I will be one of those shown the door is low.

However, if you're hiring a blogger/media expert/analyst/reporter, now would be a great time to hire me.

On a broader media note, I think that too many newspapers are making a mistake when it comes to the challenges in the new media world. Sure, you can cut costs by getting rid of a lot of older, highly compensated employees, but the loss of institutional memory can be too great a price to pay and may only translate into greater losses as you lose more and more subscribers.