The Oregonian's first A1 ad

The Oregonian has placed an ad on page A1 for the first time in its modern publication. Taking three column inches in the lower-right corner, the display ad promotes the Clam Cannery Hotel in Port Townsend, Washington. The words "paid advertisement" appear above the ad while a black border separates it from its surroundings.

A more prominent form of advertising, the spadea, has been wrapping front pages since last August. But while that format obscures half of the front page, then-Executive Editor Peter Bhatia pointed out upon its introduction that those ads have "no impact on the amount of news in the paper or the amount of space devoted to news."

American newspapers are increasingly placing paid ads on page one. Among the top five newspapers by circulation, only the Washington Post abstains from A1 advertising. The New York Times began the practice last year.

Amid a nationwide advertising recession and after repeated buyout offers, The Oregonian recently warned of its first newsroom layoffs. New publisher Chris Anderson recently said that the paper is "adjusting our expenses to match up with our revenue."

Oregonian editor Sandy Rowe is retiring to save the newspaper money, she wrote in an email and said in an announcement to staff today. In an effort to protect content-producing jobs over editorial jobs, she came to the conclusion that her own position was one that needed to be cut. Current executive editor Peter Bhatia will become the newspaper's editor on January 1 after Rowe ends her 16-year tenure at the end of 2009.

Here is her email to staff, as first published by Willamette Week:

Colleagues:

I today announced I am retiring as editor of The Oregonian. This was a tremendously difficult decision but I am confident it is sound. You deserve to know why.

When we first announced the buyout and possibility of subsequent layoffs, many of you wanted to know staffing targets, how and when we would decide about layoffs and what departments would be most affected. Reasonable questions, all. I responded we would not know the staffing target until we had a new publisher and a final budget and we wouldn’t start planning layoffs until the buyout was completely closed. I also said we would protect more content-producing jobs by reducing the number of editors. I did not realize at the time that statement would drive my own decision.

Led by Chris, in early November we went back into the budgets, determined to ensure the company’s profitability in 2010, the essential ingredient to retain jobs and turn our focus from cutting to building. At that point it became clear we would have to shed about 70 jobs total from the newsroom staff. As we have gotten much smaller as a newsroom, it is also clear we have too many editing positions concentrated at the top of the organization.

Over Thanksgiving I wrestled with the number of layoffs we would need and determined it was best to start by removing my own salary from the budget. I informed Chris of my decision last week. Doing this preserves other jobs.

The biggest single timing consideration for me is my conviction that we are indeed right on the brink of having both financial soundness and great opportunity for the future. That is the good news. The economy is starting to turn and Chris and his leadership team are putting all the pieces in place to take full advantage of our strong market position and growing online opportunity. It won’t be easy, but by this time next year, I predict this company will be in a modest growth position.

In News, I have no doubt you have the leadership within yourselves and in this room to meet the future with vigor and commitment. I am very proud of that. The superb work you have done and the public service we provide through our journalism has never been attributable to the editor or a small handful of people. It is from all of you. Yes, we are smaller than we have been and many talented colleagues have left, but look around you at the talent still here, ranging from veteran Pulitzer Prize winners to young super-talented digitally savvy journalists.

You will not lose the passion that drives you and in that, too, I take great pride. What you do is worthy, often inspired, and has never been more needed than it is today. Amid the noise of the media marketplace, more than ever the fight is to be the trusted source of local news and information. That is what you do so well, and you will win that fight — on any platform the market chooses.

I will miss you a great deal, but that is overshadowed by the gratitude I feel for the good fortune of having worked with you and every day having fun, laughing, struggling and, ultimately achieving tremendous things together.

I cheer you and wish you Godspeed on these important next steps in the journey.

Sandy

Oregonian Managing Editor Sandy Rowe warns in an email to staff that "a layoff is inevitable," but that there's still time to take the paper's most recent buyout offer:

Colleagues:

I promised to update you regularly on the buyout and budget situation. Peter [Bhatia, executive editor] and I have done so in stand up meetings and scores of individual conversations over the past month.

This is where we stand now: 25 full-time staffers and 6 part-time have either accepted the buyout offer or have indicated to us they are going to sign the paperwork. A number of other employees have said they are seriously considering doing so. As you know, the deadline for accepting the offer is 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, and most taking the buyout will stay on payroll until Dec. 18.

Last week it became apparent that we would not reach an acceptable budget target. Sadly, I therefore believe that a layoff is inevitable despite our determination to avoid it. I do not know when a layoff would occur or the terms. But, the severance connected to an involuntary layoff will be less than the buyout package currently offered.

Understandably, throughout this difficult process you wanted to know the number of positions we need to reduce. Early on in this process, we had hoped the number would be lower than it now can be, given our revenue. I now know that will be about 70 positions, or within one or two of that depending on the PT and FT distribution. Without knowing the exact number taking the offer or how many staffers we will need to accomplish robust zoning in paper and hyperlocal sites online, we cannot today determine exactly what positions will be eliminated or all the jobs that will change. In some -- but not most -- circumstances we have been able to alert individuals that their jobs are likely to be eliminated. In the case of a layoff, staffing decisions will be based on the needs of the organization, range and depth of skills of the individual and seniority, with the needs of the organization in terms of future staffing being the most significant of those.

That is all I know at this point, and some of that is my best guess given the information we have now. If you are considering the buyout, I encourage you to complete that process. This is an excruciating time for all of us; I am deeply sorry and wish more than anything I could preserve more jobs and relieve that anxiety. We will go forward as quickly as we can to complete this and will be on sound financial footing once we have.

Thank you for all you do on behalf of our readers, this newsroom and The Oregonian.

Sandy

UPDATE (11/4, 3:34 pm): Willamette Week published this memo first.

A memo from Oregonian executive editor Peter Bhatia today outlined a reorganization plan in which many teams of reporters focused on traditional coverage areas will "cease to exist" in favor of two larger teams. A separate group will handle editing and production.

The memo makes reference to the buyout offer made last month and presumes a smaller workforce. It does not mention newsroom layoffs, though previous memos have made that possibility clear.

"We will not abandon our foundation of beat reporting," the memo says, "but beats will be redefined along areas of expertise of most interest to our readers. Some beats will be eliminated because with fewer people we cannot cover everything that we have in the past."

With "some small exceptions," teams on the fourth and fifth floors of the Oregonian building will be dissolved. Those include online, business, photography, news teams, copy desk, features and A&E (O!). Other teams on those floors — sports, Homes & Gardens, FOODday, travel and editorial — will remain separate.

Eliminating these smaller groups does not mean that their corresponding newspaper sections will be eliminated, sources at the paper confirm.

One of the new, larger groups, titled "Local Expertise and Enterprise Reporting," will include 60 to 70 reporters, editors and support staff. Beats will include politics and government, sustainability, business and economy, and arts and culture. This group will also cover breaking news, watchdog and investigative reporting, and narrative storytelling.

The other group of reporters, titled "Community," will cover zoned content (stories focused on, and printed for, specific geographic areas) as well as hyperlocal websites that are in development. But community webpages will not only be geographically specific. "Community more and more also means communities of interest," the memo says, "and hyperlocal topic pages will be a key part of our Web work."

"For most reporters," the memo continues, "beats will still be the primary focus, creating the enterprising journalism we value. With a smaller staff there will be increased expectations of productivity, flexibility and greater responsibility for Web work. Reporters will need to jump in on issues that require our attention more often than has been the case and work different hours as news and Web needs dictate."

The memo also lays out changes to the editing process, a reduced focus on the evening print deadline, an increased emphasis on audience interaction, and the primary differences between print and online. Read the memo in full after the break. Bracketed explanations are ours: