UPDATED: ProJo’s John Hill to Take Buyout, Three More ProJo Employees Seeking Buyouts
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Veteran Providence Journal reporter -- and President of the Guild -- John Hill is taking GateHouse's latest buyout offer.
"The offer was the best it had been in the past, and I didn't know what the next one would be," said Hill, who noted that he had heard of two other reporters and two advertising executives who had requested buyouts.
On Monday afternoon, Executive Editor Alan Rosenberg confirmed Hill, Christine Dunn, John Gillooly, and night editor Gary Zebrun took buyouts.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHill, who had been with the paper for 29 years, was Secretary of the Guild for five years, and President for fifteen. He said as of Monday at 1 p.m. he had not been notified that GateHouse had offered official buyouts to those four employees.
Hill said he will remain on with the Guild for the remainder of the year.
"There's still stuff I want to get done before I sign off," said Hill. "I gave a third of my life [to the Guild]."
Reaction
"Legacy media are in a generational tailspin. No one under the age of 40 is reading newsprint anymore and traditional newsrooms including The Providence Journal and The Boston Globe have failed at presenting news online... and the results are apparent," said Roger Williams Journalism Professor Michael Scully.
"So, as the whole media ecosystem realigns itself, and news revenues dry up, legacy newsrooms continue to implode. What will local news look like in five years? Who knows. There will be digital operations but I doubt The Providence Journal and/or The Newport Daily News will be viable news resources. They are the Sears and J.C. Penney of the news world," said Scully.
Latest for GateHouse and ProJo
As GoLocal reported on July 11, "GateHouse’s Region Vice President Peter Meyer said in a message to employees at more than 100 of the company's newspapers in New England — that the paper is looking at more buyouts. This comes along with a double-digit price increase this past week. De facto, less reporting and a more expensive newspaper.
The Providence Journal and the Newport Daily News employees are being offered buyouts, according to Executive Editor Alan Rosenberg. GateHouse recently closed another Rhode Island newspaper - the Newport Mercury - which had dated back to 1758.
The Providence Journal continues to suffer through massive staffing cutbacks, a collapse of circulation and falling print ad revenues — so GateHouse Media — the parent company to the Providence Journal — is pumping up the price as well as trimming the staff."
Updated Monday 4:08 p.m., Updated Tuesday 5:00 a.m.
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