Gannett furloughs affect KSDK
Employees of KSDK (Channel 5) were told Wednesday that they all will have to take one week of unpaid “vacation” this quarter. This order comes down from parent company Gannett and is a move to avoid layoffs. KSDK wouldn’t comment except to refer to Gannett. Unclear at this point what the unions will do about this and whether contracts allow the furloughs.
Gannett CEO Craig Dubrow is quoted as saying in a memo to employees: “After much consideration, we decided a furlough program would be the fairest and least intrusive way to meet these fiscal challenges in the first quarter, which is traditionally the lightest time of the year. We sincerely hope this minimizes the need for any layoffs going forward.”
Here’s a good story from Editor & Publisher about how Gannett-owned newspapers (85 including USA Today) are affected.
fivefan - thank you for your insightful comments about Heidi Glaus. Her “too cool” attitude, bizarre wardrobe and hair, and generally self-serving approach to reporting are unbearable for me, and I mute the TV when she comes on. The low point was last year when she drove a Mini car into the studio as part of a gushy, over-the-top segment on the many wonderful virtues of the vehicle (i.e. free commercial). A frightening recent development is when the producers have had her go out during inclement weather and provide “live” reports via a cell phone and camera while driving around. This is truly irresponsible - not to mention pointless (Hey! The weather’s bad!) - on the part of the station and Ms. Glaus.
Its just too bad that Ch 2 Randi Naughton does not work at Ch 5 , geez talk about someone who needs to be off the air !