This time, they're going to everyone in the newsroom. Then, after tallying how many opt to leave voluntarily, we move, if necessary, into the involuntary part - layoffs.
I was looking through the archives and was stunned at how often I've written about layoffs - in other businesses, not my own. Companies merged, entire industries faltered, and I covered the stories, never imagining my own company or my own industry would ever be the one merging or faltering. It's the reporter's remove: You're the guy standing over on the side, watching the house burn or the plane crashing.
One of the many and uniformly depressing journalism blogs estimated that almost 1,000 newspaper jobs went away last week. Like many reporters, I feel like I've done nothing but attend funerals these past years - my social life appears to revolve around retirement parties.
But these for the most part have been voluntary exits. People left, often with a nice chunk of money and some health benefits and a chance to do something else. This time, though, it looks like at least some of those leaving might be leaving against their will. Tough luck, you might say, and you might be right. And yet, if you care at all about this city and this region, and knowing what's going on - at City Hall, at the State House, at the White House, at Constellation Energy, at the BSO, at Hopkins, the list goes on and on - it's not just our future but yours, too.
Oh, The Sun will continue to publish, both in print and online - but with a smaller staff.
The best-case scenario is that we've had a horribly bloated, inefficient staff in the past, and this paring down will merely mean a leaner, more efficient reporting machine. If only. You'll have to trust me on this, but any extra reporting poundage has been whittled down by past buyouts. No, what's happening with newspapers these days is more about outside forces - things like the availability of our content for free online, the loss of advertising - rather than an issue of overstaffing.
I hope - and my editors insist - that any cuts will not compromise the newspaper's commitment to public-service journalism. So Sheila, you're not off the hook.
But the axman cometh nonetheless. And hopefully, without damaging the watchdog role that's long been such a part of this newspaper.
