Asheville Citizen-Times employees have been taking a week of unpaid leave during this first quarter of the new year, a “furlough” mandated by corporate owner Gannett. The McDowell News newspaper is adopting a somewhat different approach:
The offices of The McDowell News will be closed each Friday in March as part of parent company Media General’s furlough plan.
“The newspaper will be published and delivered five days a week as usual,” said McDowell News Editor/General Manager Scott Hollifield.
Media General, which publishes 24 daily newspapers and more than 250 weekly newspapers and owns and operates 19 network-affiliated television stations, said last week that its employees will be required to take 10 days without pay by the end of September. The mandatory furloughs are expected to save the company about $9 million and offset revenue shortfalls as it deals with a weakening advertising market that is hurting many newspaper and television companies.
Media General employs about 5,600 workers across the Southeast and all are taking part in the furloughs.
Other media companies, such as Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper company and owner of The Asheville Citizen-Times, have instituted similar cost-saving programs.“With this furlough, along with other cost-reduction measures already implemented, we are being prudent and proactive as we address the impact of unprecedented economic turmoil in our country and our industry,” Marshall N. Morton, Media General’s president and chief executive officer said in a statement last week.
1 Comment
With several papers across the country closing their doors do you think that the Asheville Citizen Times will remain open?
With printing already being done in Greenville and several departments outsourced could the closing of the Asheville paper be any more eminent?
The papers sit 56 miles a part and in most large cities their papers own circulation covers that or more. Are two papers with high overhead that are owned by the same company (Gannett) really necessary?
The real estate in Asheville could really bring in some needed cash.