PD to cut staff, schedule? Its journalists think so

Plain Dealer staff are kicking off a campaign this week to counter an expected move by the paper’s owner, Advance Publications, to reduce core editorial staff and possibly change its seven days a week publishing schedule, according to this piece from the well-respected Poynter Institute.

The report by Andrew Beaujon, who writes a media column for Poynter,  begins this way:

Plain Dealer journalists plan pre-emptive campaign against reduced print, staff cuts

by Andrew BeaujonPublished Nov. 9, 2012 5:54 amUpdated Nov. 9, 2012 8:55 am

Advance Publications hasn’t said whether it intends to reduce the publication schedule or staff at The Plain Dealer, but journalists at the Cleveland paper want to get ahead of any decision their owners might make.

The Save The Plain Dealer campaign will start this weekend, Plain Dealer science writer John Mangels tells Poynter in an email.

The multi-media campaign will begin Sunday with a half-page ad in The Plain Dealer, to be followed by bus and billboard ads throughout the city. TV and radio ads will appear soon. There will be mass mailings and e-mailings to elected officials, political and business leaders and other people of influence. We’ll have a Facebook page with an abundance of content, a petition on Change.org, and a Twitter feed. We’re also working to organize community forums where we’ll discuss the future of journalism in Northeast Ohio, and the potential impact of the loss of the daily paper and much of its experienced news-gathering staff.

Advance owns a number of major market newspapers. Earlier this year it announced that The Times-Picayune of New Orleans would publish only on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. 

The Poynter piece may be found here.

Guess it's time for The Real Deal to expand.