The McClatchy company will begin editing copy and building pages for the News & Observer of Raleigh, the Charlotte Observer and the Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., out of its Charlotte Observer office, according to reports this afternoon out of Raleigh.
The transition will begin in August. Twenty-five staffers will be given the opportunity to move to Charlotte, reports N&O Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf. Find the report here.
Average daily circulation for the News & Observer is 134,470. Circulation for the Charlotte Observer is 155,497.
The 22,317-circulation Rock Hill Herald has been edited and designed in Charlotte and in Raleigh for a while now.
Full disclosure: I spent time at all three of these papers. I worked as a sports stringer for the Charlotte Observer‘s York County edition from 1981 to 1983. I worked as a sports stringer and free-lance editorial cartoonist for the Herald from 1983 until 1985 and then was the paper’s second-ever full-time news artist and news designer from 1988 until 1993. And I worked as an artist and graphics reporter for the N&O from 1993 to 1996.
I’ll relay more as I hear it from my contacts there.
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UPDATE:
Here is the full memo to News & Observer staffers, sent out less than 40 minutes ago by N&O publisher Orage Quarles III:
Date: June 6, 2011 5:46:01 PM EDT
To: N&O Employees
Subject: Centralized Publishing CenterMEMO TO: All Co-Workers
FROM: Orage Quarles III
DATE: June 6, 2011
SUBJECT: Centralized Publishing CenterFor several months now, we have been working with The Charlotte
Observer to determine if we could develop a consolidated publishing
center to manage the copy editing and design functions for both of our
newspapers. As you may know, several other newspaper companies have
developed these types of centers, and other McClatchy newspapers have
already successfully transitioned to this model. The Rock Hill Herald
is currently being designed and copy edited by The Charlotte Observer
and The News & Observer, and The Modesto Bee provides news production
for the Merced Sun-Star.After an in-depth analysis, we have decided to work with Charlotte and
have the publishing center be housed in Charlotte. The transition of
production work will begin this month and continue throughout the
summer. We anticipate that the new center will be fully staffed and
functional by mid-September.So what does this mean for editorial production employees at The News
& Observer? Job opportunities are available for all Raleigh employees
who are interested in relocating. The employees impacted have been
contacted about the transition to the new center, and we will work
closely with them to discuss these opportunities. Employees who are
not interested in the new roles that are available or who prefer not
to relocate will be provided with a severance package that will
include both a Severance Pay Allowance and company-subsidized COBRA.We understand that these types of changes are difficult to process and
significantly impact our employees. But we believe the new center
will allow us to continue to produce a first-rate newspaper and
prepare us for the future. Given the new economic realities of our
industry, we must find more efficient ways to deliver the very best
products to our readers and advertisers, and we are confident the new
center will be an important part of our future.Please contact [editor] John Drescher, [human resources director] Jackie Stark or me if you have any questions.
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IMPORTANT: If you’re one of the folks finding out today your job will be going away this summer, read this first: My guide to surviving a layoff. It’s a bit dated. But it’s there for you.
A real shame. My heart goes out to my former colleagues at the N&O.
And of course John Drescher used to work at the Observer…
I understand why newspaper companies are moving to this kind of model, but it is heart-wrenching to see this. As a reporter at The N&O, I spent a long time trying to build relationships with the ‘late crew,’ because it takes so much planning and collaboration between designers, copy editors, graphic artists, line editors and reporters to stitch together a seamless experience for readers. I don’t think that’s remotely achievable if people aren’t co-located. Another casualty of changes in the industry, but a particularly sad one.
I have worked at or know several people in each location. Sad to see the consolidation, but understand it from a business perspective. Best wishes to everyone affected! I hope everything works out for the better for you!
I, too, used to work on the copy desk at the Herald (in fact, they’re holding a reunion next weekend at Lake Wylie — hey guys!), and I wonder what would have happened to me if I had stayed. Terry Pratchett’s Trousers of Time has many legs.
Here’s more on McClatchy’s plans, including how it will handle relocation costs.
http://bit.ly/iGZp2y
What a sad day for these newspapers. This move will take a toll on quality and relevance. One only need to look at papers where this has already happened to see that they are mere shells of their former selves.
My heart goes out to the eliminated employees. May your future be brighter than the newspapers you leave behind.
Any suggestion that a consolidated copy desk is good for a newspaper is flat wrong. Yes, there are economic reasons to do so but quality suffers because you have fewer people doing more work. No “first-rate newspaper” can be designed and edited from afar.
I have first-hand knowledge of the creation of a central editing center by Media General. The center has mortally wounded the Winston-Salem Journal. No real local control over style and presentation. Winston-Salem readers get what some harried employee in Richmond has time for. Real newspaper people know that a paper needs a local desk.
The real shame in all of this is the needless disruption of people’s lives. A company can create a virtual editing center and allow copy editors and designers to stay in their communities. There is no need to physically have people under one roof. Yet the powers that be are forcing folks to move. The same thing happened when Media General consolidated. There was no consideration of allowing telecommuting. Technology isn’t the problem. Managerial insecurity and 19th century need for control are.
I hope that shrinking profit margins will force corporations out of the media business and allow local, grassroots journalists to come up with their own solutions/products.