Hot on the heels of the item we posted yesterday about a downturn in the magazine business comes word that the New York Times is slashing staff at two newspapers they own in our area. According to a report in the Tampa Bay Business Journal the Lakeland Ledger is dropping  

36 employees and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune is cutting 33 people. Both papers have now lopped off about a third of the number of employees they once had. 

Ledger Publisher Jerome Ferson said “It is with deep regret that we find ourselves in circumstances that require us to reduce the work force. This is a very dynamic time we are in. I would characterize it as a struggle of epic proportions, but we have a base of talented employees that are capable of rising to the challenge.” 

I am left with mixed feelings about this kind of news. Those of us who do business on the Internet are benefiting mightily from the migration of readers and advertisers from traditional media to the web. However, having been a TV reporter in the Tampa Bay area for 17 years I still have many friends at the local papers, radio and TV stations and I hate to see any of those people lose their jobs. 

I do feel that in the long run it could end up being a blessing in disguise for some of them though. Their talents translate well to the web and I think many could become very successful as owners of their own media properties. With a domain name, a cheap hosting account and the ability to produce compelling content, something those professional journalists certainly have, there is no reason they can't become their own bosses and thrive in the new media world being created before our eyes. 

The kind of historic upheaval we are currently seeing in the media business has undoubtedly created pain for many but it has also created new opportunities that are there for the taking for those able to adapt to new ways of delivering news and information.
(Posted August 13, 2008)