Slog - Comments on One More Down, A Couple Hundred to Go

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:58:02 -0800

Outsourced to India, huh?

Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:13:27 -0800

Yeah, the News here in Denver axed their film critic many months ago. It's a bad time to be in the newspaper business.

Comment by Peter F

Peter F — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:16:45 -0800

Ansen was part of a mass layoff at Newsweek, of over a hundred staffers:

http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/03/newsweek-buyouts-writers-david-ansen-gates.php

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:25:53 -0800

The major critics like everything. The irrelevant critics like nothing. The average person enjoys shit, and the rest are usually have something better to do with their time.

It's a conundrum, yo!

Newsweek should totally hire me. I have an iPhone.

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:26:27 -0800

Er, scratch that are. I'm sick. Forgive me.

Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:42:08 -0800

Poe, we know you're sick; tell us something we don't know.

Comment by Aislinn

Aislinn — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:42:44 -0800

Dear Slog,

It's been 50 minutes since your last post. I rely on you for my time-wasting needs, and when you're this slow, I get very bored. Please take this into consideration.

Love always,

Aislinn

Comment by kid icarus

kid icarus — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:49:22 -0800

I know! At least let us pay our respects due to Josh Feit.

Comment by PopTart

PopTart — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:52:08 -0800

The consolidation of media outlets under the umbrella of a few major corporations has driven a lot of people out of work.

And, while I support the democratic concept of "blogs" the amount of content people are creating for free is playing into this as well. I was told by someone at a technology company recently that they don't have to hire writers for their documentation because there are bloggers out there willing to do the work for them for free.

Comment by Superfurry Animal

Superfurry Animal — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:59:45 -0800

FWIW, Ansen was neither axed nor part of a major series of layoffs. He (and the rest) opted for an early retirement program, and a pretty damn sweet one, if Radar is to be believed.

Comment by michael strangeways

michael strangeways — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:07:30 -0800

uh, the early retirement program WAS in lieu of forced layoffs. If not enough people had taken it, there WOULD have been people axed.

unless the grid collapses, print media is toast.

and papier mache artists and birdcages will be up the creek without a paddle.

Comment by michael strangeways

michael strangeways — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:15:01 -0800

1)I pity Mr Poe...you know he's sick when he makes shitty typos; that's not his style. Boning lean muscled, hairy chested, 45 year old banker/daddies in $1500 suits behind WaMu IS his style, but sloppy errors in typing and grammar, no...
2)Yeah, why can't we comment on Josh's goodbye? Is someone afraid the Sloggers were going to rag on him? We wouldn't do that; we LIKE Josh!

Now, if it was ECB...

Comment by Superfurry Animal

Superfurry Animal — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:18:02 -0800

And Michael Strangeways, you know that because ...? There's no indication Ansen would have been canned -- in fact, as one of the most popular writers in the mag, it's highly unlikely he would have -- and the company hadn't announced any layoff plans.

Frankly, critics like Ansen who review one movie a week are dinosaurs and due for extinction anyway. I'm not saying his leaving is a good thing, but it doesn't make sense for a media company to be paying someone, anyone, six figures to write 500 to 800 words a week.

Comment by michael strangeways

michael strangeways — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:40:51 -0800

because that's what buy outs are for; a humane way to clean house without having to fire people. (plus it's a tax write off and good p.r.) Newsweek wasn't offering early retirement out of the goodness of their heart. Believe me, if enough people HADN'T taken the buy out, there would have been firings. Maybe not Ansen; he has a name, but lesser names would have definitely gotten the heave-ho.

Comment by Fat Albert

Fat Albert — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:17:17 -0800

So that would mean Josh got canned, too? Say, I'll bet the Stranger offers one heckuva buyout/severance package.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:30:09 -0800

@15 - well, if you call a 6 pack of Oly and a pack of smokes a package, yeah ...

Comment by annie

annie — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:04:28 -0800

Potato, potato.

Comment by vooodooo84

vooodooo84 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:14:32 -0800

@17 i love that you typed out a phrase that only has meaning when it is pronounced verbally

Comment by BobH

BobH — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:43:05 -0800

I don't expect real journalism from Slog (or The Stranger, for that matter), but could we get a little accuracy, Annie? Ansen wasn't "axed"; he took a buyout. Big difference.