Laid off C-T exec speaks

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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The Mountain Xpress has an interview with John Yenne, the former online director at the Asheville Citizen-Times, who lost his job along with 15 others in lay-offs announced a couple of weeks ago. Yenne is married to former Citizen-Times Executive Editor Susan Ihne, who last week filed a $15 million wrongful termination lawsuit against the newspaper and its corporate owner.

What’s next: The Citizen-Times plans to shut down its Sardis Road printing facility in a couple of weeks and put another 60 workers on the street.

Snippet:

Q: Though mandated by Gannett, what comments do you have on how AC-T has handled the layoffs? Any criticism/praise of upper management?

A: It’s hard to be critical after working for Gannett for so many years. The income I’ve earned from Gannett newspapers has paid for my mortgages and moved me to great places like Asheville. The work has taught me new skills and linked me up with many, many good and smart people around the country. I have been a part of some very good teams.

But Barry Diller, CEO of IAC/Interactive, made an interesting observation recently when he told the Reuters summit … “The idea of a company that’s earning money, not losing money, that’s not, let’s say, ‘industrially endangered,’ to have just cutbacks so they can earn another $12 million or $20 million or $40 million in a year where no one’s counting is really a horrible act when you think about it on every level.”

There’s been a lot of debate about Diller’s comments in media circles. Allan Mutter, who blogs at newsosaur, would probably disagree with Diller on every level. He says the newspaper industry is dying quickly and probably hasn’t acted fast enough in getting lean because of threats to the industry. And Gannett has a reputation for being ahead of the curve in the newspaper industry in managing its business.

But there’s no doubt that the AC-T is a profitable company that continues to raise good revenue (although not as much as last year). The hard part for me is the knowledge that, by the end of the year, AC-T will have sent close to 100 people who live in this community to the unemployment rolls while still making a substantial profit margin. In light of Diller’s observations, that’s a tough pill to swallow. But there’s no doubt that Gannett, as owner of the AC-T, can do what it deems necessary to make the corporation thrive in the future. Just like the Mountain Xpress owner can do what he wants with his publication(s).