Let’s look at the people who are charged with running the companies.
Now, I’m quite sure I’m going to be body slammed worse than whomever is popular right now in the professional wrestling realm for saying what I’m about to say.
The executives running the media corporations need a little love too.
Various blogs, message boards, Twitter pages and probably millions of e-mails assert the average Joe’s hatred of the executives.
It’s easy to do. Bash ‘em. Beat ‘em into the ground. They can’t relate to our pain.
And you’re right – they can’t relate to the average beat reporter or accounting clerk’s pain.
They have their own to deal with.
Imagine, for a minute or two, the horror you’d feel looking at a company’s stock price plummeting and realizing that you, and you top floor colleagues, were suddenly faced with trying to fix business models that should have been altered a decade before.
Realizing that the only way to fix the business is to screw with untold number of people’s lives. Having to sign the order, or orders, to lay off dedicated employees who gave their all for the good of the company.
People who had done nothing wrong, other than make too much money.
Management makes tough decisions, that’s their job. And sadly, the current group of media executives are paying the Devil his due for decades of not adjusting. Just the same as General Motors. Just the same as a bunch of other industries.
But, yet, not quite the same either.
Without a doubt, it’s heart breaking when a manufacturing plant closes. It’s horrible when any company lets employees go. It’s a staggering loss for both the families and the communities.
But, there is a connection between a community and its newspaper. More so for a newspaper than a TV or radio station. Newspaper readers connect with the bylines appearing daily in print.
So, when those bylines go away due to layoffs, it’s like losing a friend or loved one. And a newspaper’s staff is uniquely dedicated to the honor of producing a paper. Sure, we all complain about it, but in our hearts and souls, there is nothing better than being on the front line. The smell of ink. The ruined clothes. The long hours. We love it.
Somewhere along the way, the executives at the media companies know this. They’ve all known people who give beyond their all for their work. They know, in the backs of their minds the horror and torment their signatures are causing.
And somewhere, deep down, they care. They truly do. I believe they are truly upset and tormented by the decisions they have to make.
But, they are decisions that have to be made.
To allow a company such as Gannett, The New York Times or McClatchy to go into bankruptcy and not return is simply not an option. I’m also quite sure the executives didn’t believe they would have to keep going back to the well and lay off more and more people.
But they did have to do it. Newspapers were, in many cases, bloated and a bit overstaffed. We needed to become more efficient. We also need to realize that our profit margins are too high. We could possibly have reduced the number of layoffs by accepting lower profits. But, that would have killed the stock price, and we’re all greedy – we want higher returns on our investments.
And so you know, I’m a "victim" of a layoff. So, I have my own internal anger to the executives. But, as time passes, I realize that economics are just that, economics.
What we really should be angry about is the mismanagement that happened at the end of the last decade. Remember when times were good and we spent money stupidly? I sure do.
So, in this new year, we should be thankful we have our health and our freedom. And, maybe, just maybe, have a little compassion for those who are suffering.
All of us.
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