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	Globe Cuts 24 Jobs in Newsroom Via Buyouts By Robert Gavin Boston Globe [Boston MA] March 22, 2007 http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/03/22/globe_cuts_24_jobs_in_newsroom_via_buyouts/ The Boston Globe reduced its newsroom staff by 24 people, or 6 percent, through a buyout that included several of its most prominent and longtime journalists, including two Pulitzer Prize winners, columnist Eileen McNamara and investigative reporter Stephen Kurkjian. The buyout program was an effort to cut costs but avoid layoffs in the face of some of the harshest conditions for newspapers and other mass media in years. Staffers seeking a buyout had to apply for it. Most were notified yesterday that their applications were accepted, and their departures will occur over the next few months. "It is always difficult to say goodbye to co-workers and friends," Globe editor Martin Baron wrote in a memo to the staff yesterday. "Wonderful people who have dedicated themselves so fully to the success of the Globe will no longer be working with us side by side. I know that all of us wish them well." Other writers familiar to Globe readers who are leaving include restaurant critic Alison Arnett, religion reporter and former Middle East bureau chief Charles A. Radin, Bogota bureau chief Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, and outdoors writer Tony Chamberlain. "It's very bittersweet," said Chamberlain, 64, whose nearly three decades of covering sailing, skiing, and other sports included Olympic games and the America's Cup. "This is not the typical job that you just want to escape from." Two staffers from the editorial page also took buyouts, including longtime deputy editorial page editor and columnist Robert L. Turner. The newsroom and editorial reductions were part of a broader buyout program aimed at cutting a total of 125 jobs at the Globe and Worcester Telegram & Gazette, also owned by the Globe's parent, The New York Times Co. Online and other competitors are slicing into newspaper circulation and advertising revenue. Revenue generated by newspapers' own websites is growing quickly, but still represents only a fraction of that from print. Although Times Co. reported that ad revenue at New England Media Group, of which the Globe is the biggest holding, declined 4 percent in February, the group experienced a much sharper decline in 2006 of 9 percent that included several months of double-digit declines. Many newspapers have cut staff over the past year. The Philadelphia Inquirer this year laid off about 70 editorial employees, nearly one-fifth of the newsroom. The Minneapolis Star Tribune this month cut its newsroom by 7 percent, or 24 jobs, through buyouts. The Rocky Mountain News in Denver yesterday said it would seek to cut 20, or 9 percent, of its full-time newsroom staff through buyouts. The Globe buyout had aimed to cut 19 jobs in the newsroom and editorial pages, but many more people applied, leading some to be turned down. Baron declined to say how many applied and how many were rejected. Baron said some of the staffers whose buyout applications were not approved were deemed to have special skills or hard-to-fill jobs that required immediate replacement. Nor did the paper accept buyout applications from high-level editors. Still, by approving several buyouts above the target, Baron added, the Globe will be able to fill some positions previously frozen. "When these job reductions are completed," Baron said in his memo, "the Globe will continue the ambitious journalism that brings so many readers to our newspaper and website every day." The paper, nonetheless, is losing decades worth of experience from journalists who have touched the community in numerous ways. McNamara began as a secretary in the 1970s, left for a stint as a reporter at United Press International, then returned to the Globe in 1979 as a reporter. She began writing her column 12 years ago, winning the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for commentary on Massachusetts people and issues. McNamara, a native of Cambridge, recalled her father reading the Globe's old evening edition each night after work, insisting on quiet as he caught up on the day's events. "I grew up knowing The Boston Globe was an important part of people's lives," she said. McNamara, 54, who will teach journalism at Brandeis University in Waltham, said she was proud to raise the public consciousness of pressing social issues such as domestic violence and infant mortality. "I've had the best job in Boston for 12 years," she said. "But life is long, and there's time for a second act." Kurkjian, 63, a Boston native, joined the Globe in 1968. He was a founding member of the Globe's investigative unit, known as the Spotlight Team, and shared in three Pulitzer prizes. Two came for local investigative reporting, in 1972, for exposing political corruption in Somerville, and in 1980, for documenting the high costs and poor service at the MBTA. The third, in 2003, was awarded for public service for exposing the sexual abuse scandals of the Catholic Church. "The Globe newsroom is the best room in Boston," said Kurkjian, who said he will continue to pursue writing projects. "More good gets done here, more effort in getting the truth and informing readers than any other place in the city." Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com.
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