The outlook for daily metro newspapers remains bleak. Southern California News Group, the parent company of 11 newspapers, including the Orange County Register, is offering a buyout plan to avoid layoffs. It’s for all newsroom employees across the Southern California region.
The buyout follows a similar offer to employees at the Los Angeles Times in June. That voluntary severance plan was limited to nonunion employees with at least 15 years of service at the company, excluding the manufacturing, distribution and operations departments, as reported by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Both follow the New York Times, which announced in May that it would offer buyouts to its employees to restructure its newsroom.
Frank Pine, SCNG’s executive editor, told the Orange County Business Journal last week that the reason is something the entire print journalism industry is grappling with: declining print advertising revenue.
“We are offering a voluntary separation package to all newsroom employees across the Southern California News Group as part of our continuing efforts to improve our digital news gathering and delivery while at the same time managing expenses against declining print revenues,” Pine told the Business Journal. “The challenges we face are not unique to us. We remain committed to ambitious, local journalism for all of our readers while building a sustainable business model that will serve our communities for years to come.”
Sequence of Events
Pine went on the record after the OC Weekly learned layoffs were planned at the Register and its sister paper, The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, based on a July 11 memo from SCNG Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Dan Scofield that someone left on a printer in the Register newsroom “about massive layoffs.”
Pine sent an email to the OC Weekly saying layoffs would only be necessary if enough people didn’t take buyouts.
The email, according to the OC Weekly story, says that the Register plans to create a restructured newsroom plan over the next couple of months that will include “an even more aggressive emphasis on digital, a commitment to data-based decision making, and new ways of approaching breaking news, enterprise and beat reporting.”
Pine’s email also said that SCNG is “hopeful” there will be enough volunteers to avoid layoffs and that as part of the process, SCNG will reassign staff and hire for positions “critical” to its digital strategy. SCNG hopes to complete the process by the end of September.
Pine didn’t disclose details on the buyouts, but sources tell the Business Journal the offers are “generous, all things considered.” We’re told they’re likely standard buyouts—lump sum, all cash.
Digital Strategy
SCNG’s digital strategy isn’t yielding enough new revenue, even if it is paying off in readership. At the end of June, monthly visitors were up nearly 40% from last year, Pine’s email said. “Sessions” and page views were up 30%. A session is a group of interactions that take place within a given time frame. For example, a single session can contain multiple screen or page views and events.
And a new SCNG social media team is seeing results, Pine’s email said, with social sessions up more than 50% from last year. Social sessions are referrals from social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.
SCNG is also seeing big gains in local users, which are up more than 35% from this time last year, and younger users, up nearly 40% from this time last year. “These are some of the best numbers in all of Digital First Media,” the email states.
Parent’s Parent
Denver-based Digital First Media acquired Freedom Communications Inc., the former owner of the OC Register and The Press-Enterprise, out of bankruptcy last year for $49.8 million. With the buy, it rebranded its Southern California papers as Southern California News Group.
Digital First is privately owned by Randall Smith’s New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital. It owns about 100 newspaper titles, including The Denver Post. Two years ago Smith tried to unload Digital First. Respected news industry economist Ken Doctor reported this month that Digital First is again looking for buyers.
