Staffers at ABC News got the bad news today from President David Westin that a serious round of downsizing is on the way -- with buyouts and possible layoffs in the offing. This is not minor cost-cutting. This is a major restructuring and intended transformation of the way ABC gathers, packages and distributes news with as many as 400 jobs reportedly on the block.
The memo, which should be required reading for anyone who cares about the future of news, tells a tale all too familiar to media workers: In response to sweeping changes in technology, lifestyle and the economy, management is launching a wide-ranging program of re-orientation and training for digital media, while re-imagining the newsroom and reducing staff. Westin talks of media and the "entire society" being in the midst of a "revolution," and he is abolutely right. No other word will do -- and that one barely starts to cover what media companies are dealing with. I'm told more downsizing is on the way for at least one other all-news cable channel.
"When we are finished, many job descriptions will be different, different skill sets may be required, and, yes, we will likely have substantially fewer people on staff at ABC News," Westin's memo says. "To ease the transition, we are offering a voluntary separation package to all full-time, U.S.-based, non-union, non-contract employees. Information and details of the program will be sent to your home address in the next few days. The response to this voluntary program will determine the extent to which we will need to make further reductions. I encourage everyone to talk with their supervisor if they have any questions."
(Photo: David Westin, president ABC News)
The TVNewser Web site, one of the most solid sources of information on the TV news business, is reporting that 300 to 400 jobs could be eliminated. Read it here. Westin's memo goes on to say:
Anyone who doesn't believe all media are undergoing landmark once-in-several-lifetimes change, needs to read the rest of this illuminating memo from Westin. I would certainly urge all of those who work in newspapers as well as those who have attacked daily newspapers for cutting back on bureaus, sections and personnel in recent years to read through it, and learn something: Their local, regional and national papers were not alone in feeling these unprecedented winds of change and trying to react to them in a way that would allow them to survive:
What do you think? If you took the time to read the memo with an open mind do you have a better sense of what everyone in the media is up against these days? Or do you want to stick to a model of seeing the media world through a prism that is hopelessly out of date for the new economic, lifestyle and technological realities?