WWeek reports on Oregonian publisher Fred Stickel's rather ominous letter snail-mailed to employees:
The most interesting news in publisher Fred Stickel's letter, however, is a reminder of the paper's longstanding job-security pledge, which he writes "never was intended to apply to weekly publications or to distribution of content over the Internet. The Pledge's protection is tied to the daily publication of The Oregonian's current newsprint product — not the functions you perform individually."
The clarification appears to suggest that those employees who are part-timers, or who work for the website oregonlive.com or for the daily paper's other weekly publications may not have the security they might have previously assumed.
The Pledge is more than 40 years old; WWeek speculates that if the paper dropped one day a week--"say the lightly-read Monday edition"--that the Pledge might no longer apply and no one's job would be safe.
Reading the letter itself, that gloss, which WWeek itself calls "paranoid," doesn't feel that off the mark to me. To wit, the closing paragraph:
We also wish to make sure that the Pledge language is clear and unambiguous. The Pledge always has and will continue to protect the jobs of eligible employees unless our newspaper ceases to publish daily in its current newsprint form. The Pledge does not/will not apply to situations in which our newspaper ceases to publish daily in its current newsprint form.
I don't know about you, but I don't like the sound of that...
O people, what do you hear?
Born and raised in Portland, I make return often and I love The Oregonian. This is a major shock and I wasn't expecting this for a decade or two.
I understand that advertising has also been suffering. Longtime director and manager of advertising John Mannex's position was also dubbed into one, demoting him and making his old position marketing-advertising. John was an asset to The O for decades and well respected among his colleagues. A sincere hardworking man.