The non-disparagement clause
When I was graciously offered the opportunity to no longer work for the San Diego Union-Tribune nearly a year ago, one of the conditions of receiving a meager severance package (designed in such a way to minimize the company’s tax liability while subsequently maximizing my own – an excellent move for the Platinum Equity owners) was to agree not to disparage the San Diego Union-Tribune LLC nor its officers.
Having noted that, nothing in the remainder of this post should be taken as being disparaging of anyone mentioned in it.
Despite my unglorious exit from the mainstream media, I still hold a soft spot in my cold, shriveled heart for newspapers and an even softer spot for many of the people still working at these papers.
Today the Union-Tribune laid off 30-some newsroom staffers. In an almost Orwellian “note,” the new editor, Jeff Light (whom I do not personally know, nor have anything disparaging to say about) fails to mention the layoffs.
Newspapers are notoriously bad at covering themselves, but at least in past layoffs they actually ran a brief story actually mentioning the layoffs. I’m happy to see that the newspaper has evolved how they cover the news – and I mean that in a non-disparaging way. I think a former colleague of mine, Randy Dotinga, said it best: “U-T … prints editors note that doesn't just bury lede (layoffs) but takes it out & shoots it.”
David Kasumoto has the most complete list of the people honored with the wonderful opportunity to look for other forms of employment in the midst of the worst recession in three decades here.
Note this bit:
One long-time U-T writer who was laid off today posted an update on Facebook about being offered just such an opportunity with a substantial pay cut - OR - to take six-months severance after nearly 30 years of service. This move has created some confusion about a worker's ability (still unknown) - to collect state unemployment compensation - if he or she refuses to accept the paper's offer to be re-hired as a "junior reporter.
This is the sort of pro-active, cost-cutting management behavior that is usually featured prominently on TV shows like “60 Minutes,” “20/20” and the like. San Diego is the only place where 30 years of experience can qualify you for a job as a junior reporter! To quote the great Yakov Smirnoff: “What a country!”
I know most of the people on that list. Each and every one of them is good people who don’t deserve anything better than what they’re getting, because if they did deserve better, then that might be disparaging of the fine management at San Diego Union-Tribune LLC.
For those of you in San Diego wondering what all of this really means for your newspaper, I’ll give you some hints based upon my knowledge of the people on that list and what piddling skills they brought to the newspaper.
First, the well-deserved departures of David Gaddis Smith, Leslie Berestein and Ruben Navarette mean that the brilliant U-T management has finally come to the obvious conclusion that the border with Mexico specifically and Hispanics in general aren’t really important for readers to know about. I mean, Hispanics don’t speak English, they speak Hispanic, so why would an English-language paper try to cater to them? Also, for those who never met him, Gaddis, as he is referred to by friends, has a laugh that makes Horshack sound like a giggling little schoolgirl – and he’s not doing it for effect.
Secondly, the management has indicated its desire to move toward more multimedia and online coverage, so it was a brilliant move to offer Nicole Vargas (who teaches multimedia reporting at a local college) the opportunity to leave so that they could hire several of her students!
Finally, I talked to a Union-Tribune subscriber earlier this evening who told me he was considering cancelling his subscription to the paper. Obviously management has decided to follow Newsweek’s lead and shed burdensome, extraneous subscribers so they can focus like a laser on the ones that remain. Again, brilliant!
3 comments on “The non-disparagement clause”
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Platinum Equity should team up with Wendy McCaw, billionaire owner/publisher of the Santa Barbara News-Press. They would get along fine. The National Labor Relations Board has yet to act on the administrative law judge's rulings from December 2007. Reporters fired illegally for standing up to the publisher for a line between editorial and newsroom by forming a union have yet to see justice. The national board, with only two of five members serving for the last few years, only recently got two more appointed. Now, with a four-member board, it can act on hundreds of backed up cases across the country. Alas, decisions made while a two-member board may all get thrown out. Newspapers are just getting flushed across the country and turned into vanity publications for owners who have no interest in the true pursuits of journalism. If they could outsource reporting, editing and page design to India and China, they would.
Bob,
Good to see your comment. In fairness, there's a big difference between blatantly illegal actions, such as McCaw was ruled to have ordered, and what the U-T did, which may be ill-advised, but not illegal. And as long as they stay within the law, it's the owners' right to do as they see fit.
I think the U-T made an ill-advised decision with its new "jr. staff writer" position. And I'm not alone -- Voice of San Diego called the JournalismJobs.com posting "strange." It appears written to degrade the applicant, starting with the job title, the "low level of complexity, analysis and narrative," etc. And there's not even a hint that the reporter might be able to progress to a higher level.
Moreover, community leaders, who follow the U-T's changes, will know this when they're interviewed by a "jr. staff writer." The implication to the interviewee is what they say isn't really important, only befitting a low-level reporter who writes stories with a "low level of complexity." And when city council and planning commission members see these low-level reporters show up at their meetings, some might well be insulted.
Every reporter starts out green. But to establish a reportorial underclass that's inferior by definition to me seems most unwise.
I, thankfully, did not sign any paperwork about disparaging comments when I left the Screw-T five years ago. And my own personal nickname came out of a director there choosing not to pay me a well deserved bonus because I left less than two weeks before the end of a quarter. This particular version of the Screw-T is almost a textbook example on how to shut down a major metropolitan newspaper. Interestingly, the departments I was associated with are now mostly populated with the dregs rather than the talent of my heydey with the company. I have often said that it is worse for those that are left behind than those that are forced to leave. I hope for all of the staff that got their liberation paperwork that this is the case. BTW, is there a statute of limitations on how long you must retain your... required love of your previous employer?
How long before Journalism becomes as devalued a major as Political Science or Communication? Or are we there yet?