Preoccupation

A whole week off work, and I really didn't do that much with it. Oh, okay, I did do some picking up in my room (which ended up involving a shredder when I look at the pile of financial stuff I didn't need anymore) and I did clean the bathroom. That's good, but really it was mostly me being at home. Well, it's still good.

I also checked my work email from time to time. Thursday, there was a meeting announcing some changes, all stemming from the fact that the company isn't really making money right now. Our "sister" publication in Cortez is going from three issues a week to two. The advertising layout responsibility is coming over here for all the papers. It sounds like a few people over there are being laid off and two unspecified people here are, plus a handful of open positions won't be filled. All a little dizzying and frightening, though none of it gave me reason to think my job was in jeopardy.

No, the part that bothered me was - and, mind you, this was relayed to me as I wasn't present - when the publisher (who's actually in the process of stepping down and being replaced by the board) asked "everyone to help us through difficult times."

What gets me there is the implication that these are "difficult times" in the sense that things will look up, and... I'm not sure I see that. Newspapers are great, and the fill a valuable niche. That niche, however, is getting smaller rather than larger as infrastructure expands and more and more information comes to us over the internet. And with people feeling entitled to the ubiquitous news of the Web, it's difficult to provide online content that people can and will pay for, so even with the move toward metered online content, it's unlikely the market is going to expand notably. That's where I get worried. If those in charge think things are going to get better than they are going to... well, that doesn't bode well. Optimism is great, but unrealistic optimism is a way to dig a really big hole.

I spent an afternoon/evening over with my dad and step-mom Friday, which gave a chance to talk about the situation. My dad worked at the paper well before I did, and was much closer to the publisher than I'm likely to ever be. He shared some insights, pointing to the fact that the family that owns the paper(s) is, to put it simply, rich. Thankfully, they've also had people who had a strong work ethic and believed in the value of newspapers. So while the business has frequently been in less-than-wonderful financial situations, the family has supported it and gone on rather care-free, all things considered. Now, however, that wealth is getting split as the family branches out generationally. That, my father pointed out, may be a large reason why the board (which is largely made up of members of that family) is now showing more concern for the bottom line.

You also get some different perspectives. We've gone from having an publisher who was in pretty much every day and took a deep interest in the business in ways she really didn't have to, to a publisher who has been in the office most of the time and took a deep interest in the business in ways he probably didn't have to, to... well, I don't know yet. The new publisher/chairperson won't have been around the office that much and may or may not be interested in all the workings and goings on. Will we get someone who actually takes pride in and cares about putting out a quality newspaper? Will they connect with the employees the way the last couple people have? That remains to be seen.

It's all a bit scary to think about. And while I don't feel I have to fear for my job right now, it makes me wonder about five years from now. Or ten. It feels like, from a business perspective, there really isn't anywhere to go but down, which means eventually things will hit bottom...