I'll be drinking merlot while on furlough

A college professor of mine once compared journalists to shoe makers and wine drinkers - they'll always be around. So I drank the Boone's Farm and became a journalist. Certainly in the last 35 years, my journalism and my taste in wine have gotten better. But for the next week, I won't be around. Starting Monday, I'll be enjoying/enduring a five-day, fun-filled company-sponsored furlough during which I plan to sit back and contemplate the future of journalizing, shoe making and wine appreciation. Guess which one of these topics I'll be spending most my time thinking about?

Comments

[P.A.]

i guess the Times won't be asking for any bailout money since they can afford "a five-day, fun-filled company-sponsored furlough during which I plan to sit back"

[concerned]

Is it time to start renewing my subscription by the month or is it still safe to pay for a whole year in advance?

[Average Joe]

Paid vacation? Layoff for a week? Punishment like a suspention?

[Kasey_Jones]

Newspaper as we know it is dead and has been for some time now. Hell even car dealers and furniture stores moved there money to TV due to its declining readership and ineffectiveness as a an advertising medium. I pay for a subscription and its a joke how thin the newspaper is today. I get more information from the back of shampoo bottles than the daily dribble that the El Paso times puts out. Whew!!! Thank you I needed to vent anyway on the good side you guys have built an effective website that has grabbed the attention of the community and you win in that department hands down. Just don't sit on your laurels and hope that the internet does not change because it has in the past and it will in the future. On that note roy get used to furloughs cause you have many, uh, coming. That's my 5 cents.

[h]

To some of you the paper is dead, but for some who are less tech savvy is the only way they will get the news. If you don't believe me stop by a restaurant in the mornings and see how many people are reading the paper. I see it this way, pay for a subscription and enjoy your paper with some good coffee. Oh and about the furlough, nobody likes to be off without pay. I rather get a couple days off than have no job. That's all I have to say abut that.

[El Paso Citizen]

Hope you have a chance to visit San Antonio! Cheers Roy.

[rayman]

"Deadtree" versions of newspapers are in trouble. Therefore, the web-based versions are becoming the way to get your local news. However, get ready to begin to pay a subscription fee to access web newpapers. It appears that even advertising revenues are not covering the expenses for web papers. Whether they charge for total access or article access, it remains to be seen, but it is coming. Now, I can see paying a subscription for specialty-related web papers like the Wall Street Journal (which is a tax deduction), but to pay a subscription fee to view the EP Times or any other local paper on line? Naw, don't think so.

[Jay Koester]

For Average Joe and others who may not understand the furlough reference, no, Roy is not being punished. By the end of March, all (or nearly all) employees of the El Paso Times will be taking a week unpaid furlough. It's a tactic that many newspapers are using to try to get through these tough times with as few layoffs as possible.

After that short interruption/explanation, please continue to add to our pain by telling us how doomed we are.

[Gary Clarke]

It is not only newspapers that are being hit by the bad economy. There is hardly an industry in the country that is not effected, and thousands of employers are cutting back, downsizing, and laying off workers. I fear that "furloughs" are going to become common in a lot of industries. I don't know about the rest of you bloggers, but I am sure not laughing about it. Good luck Roy and Jay, enjoy the time if you can. The rest of us will probably be enjoying our own "furloughs" soon.

[Nice..]

I have to agree with Gary. I work for a US company in mexico and currently we are off on mondays for the month of Feb. Could go into March.. The economy has effected all walks of life. For us that have jobs. So I guess it could be worse we could be at the unemployement line like most folks. So working 4 days for me is currently not an issue...

[me]

Well Jay - your newspaper and others are doomed and have been doomed for quite awhile. Why? Because you have not figured out how to partner with new technology instead of fighting against it. While growing newspapers - yes we do have those here in this country - have learned to use technology as a tool to increase circulation, the El Paso Times continues to hide under the rock and not move forward by offering special web only deals, video stories on demand, reader driven photo galleries and such. What they do offer is a pathetic last chance because they forgot to board the train.
No, Jay, I don't want to beat you up for your furlough, I want to encourage you to be forward thinking and not a militant wounded journalist who is waiting for the next big bailout.

[Ana]

Hmmmm...this does not bode well for local newspapers. It does not bode well for having an informed populace, either. If local newspapers disappear what will replace them? Just the big, corporate, well-financed ones? Isn't the domination of big, corporate America one of the reasons (though not the only one) the country is in such as mess? Let's save the local newspaper! www.dimequecrees.com

[Jay Koester]

Me: The El Paso Times is one of those growing newspapers. There are more people getting their news from the El Paso Times than ever before. Maybe you haven't visited elpasotimes.com?

What we haven't done (and no newspaper has, despite your insinuation otherwise) is figure out how to make enough money off of all those new readers.

[TV or Not TV]

My wife got a call from the Times this morning asking if we wanted to subscribe to the Internet edition. I guess the days of free elpasotimes.com are almost over, a growing trend.

[rayman]

If the EPT ever begins to charge for internet access, Jay and his minions will be packing it up as no one will be so foolish to pay for it. Local coverage of the news by the EPT is becoming lower in quality and content and as for national news, well that is available from any of thousands of internet sites. So what is the incentive to "subscribe"? For example, Mort Zuckerman, owner, said he would not charge for subscriptions to his online paper the New York Daily News or his online rag, the U.S. News & World Report (www.usnews.com). Pay for elpasotimes.com? Nope.

[citizenkane]

roy, your taking a furlough so ep times can save money. npt is probably going broke. the epwu and the city's top 19 highest paid employees arent taking unpaid furloughs. christina montoya isnt taking a furlough. doesnt this tick you off when you see private companies having to do this while public services doesnt.

[Grumpy Geraldine]

The redesign of the blogs looks good, with one exception. The new font for body type is difficult to read. Can this be changed?

[Gary Clarke]

Citizenkane makes a great point. Your taxes don't take a furlough, so I guess there is no need to furlough employees of tax supported entities.

[citizen kane]

well gary, if arnold did what i heard he did in california there is hope.

[abc7 insider]

KVIA owners just announced similair cutbacks.... hiring freeze, wage freeze and 1 week furlough for all employees.... times are tough

[citizen kane]

civil employees are never forced to cut back or work less days unpaid like the private sector. governor arnold asked california civil employees to take 1 work day off per week. they said no. now maybe they will get a longer unpaid vacation. that needs to happen here. however, in our city, we tax businesses and homeowners to subsidize public employees at the psb,epwu and the city and their subcontractors. property tax is not enough. stormwater tax, soon to be garbage tax, epa tax on waste management. whats next ? the city of el paso will not follow suit with kvia and the el paso times, everybody will get there 40 hours and there will never be layoffs or cutbacks or salary decreases.

[Jay Koester]

Grumpy Geraldine: Thanks for the comments on the new blog design. I checked, and it appears font size and style is determined by each individual blogger, so I'll send a note out that folks may want to bump up there font size.

[Ivan White]

This may sound ideal or unrealistic but I am wondering when it comes to lay-offs and furloughs, does upper management or the the guys/gals in the $500+ suits ever consider taking a cut in pay so others may keep their jobs assuming that these individuals may be paid in 6 figures.

[kane]

would epwu and the city save 41,600 dollars if archuleta took a month furlough ? how about joyce's assistants at
12,500 a piece for a month furlough. nick costanza ? brosman ? how about shutting down the desal plant for a while. it doesnt make enough water to warrant it running. it cost more electric to run the plant than they are billing out in water. that would also hurt in the pr department since all they do there is show school kids around and keep jim janacek out. how about christina montoya ? furlough ? surely the psb media department needs to cut expenses until this stimulus pack kicks in.

how about mcnabb city attorney ? im sure he needs a furlough. any more media types can any of you name who need a furlough or unpaid vacation ?

[God]

Todos son una bola de envidiosos!