Friday, September 12, 2008
It took a lot not to cry today
It was as quiet as one can expect any newsroom to be.Phones went unanswered and for about an hour today, all of our attention was focused.
Today, we said good luck to some of our colleagues who took the buyout my paper offered last month. As editors read the departing reporters bios and shared anecdotes of their time here, I realized most of them had been here longer than I'd been alive.
There was cake. There were speeches. There were lots and lots of jokes and funny stories. And there were tears. And lots and lots of hugs.
Everyone seemed happy to go. They'll spend their time writing books. Or at Red Sox games. Or just living their lives greatly. They said so. But for us who will show up to work on Monday without them, there's a void.
I went downstairs earlier to say goodbye to a few of my favorite reporters who are taking the buyout. Someone asked what the mood was in the bureaus. My paper announced buyouts in August, and come October, we will have layoffs. No one knows how many, nor the method that will be used to make the cuts. I told them that right now, we weren't uneasy just because there were too many variables to worry about. We'll be concerned when we have more information.
But when I went upstairs, I couldn't help looking at the classified ads that show up on the various listserves I belong to. I wanted to at least know what was out there. Because if I go, it won't be by choice, like these guys.
Labels: buyouts, dying newsroom, layoffs, quitting time, the industry
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