After another round of layoffs last month at the Denver Post and a subscription price hike this week, Mac Tully announced Tuesday he is leaving the paper following his brief, four-year stint as publisher and CEO.
He lists several accomplishments in transitioning the Post from an old fashioned print thingamabob to a high-priced digital image, that we’ll now have to cough up $12 a month to view online.
Bye Bye Tully. So long, free content. Hello, paywall.
Comparatively, The New York Times charges $10 a month — $17 if you want the crosswords and access to cooking recipe archives.
This is a disturbing trend we’ve seen nationally — slash staff and cut content and quality while charging more money. And the news business wonders why it’s hurting financially?
It’s tragic that media conglomerates think consumers of news, of all people, won’t notice they’re getting less while having to pay more money. Even more so, in the case of the Times, that it costs almost as much money to get a crossword puzzle and some recipes as it does read the news of world events.
The Post laid off about a dozen employees late last year, while 26 folks were either let go or offered buyouts the previous year. It was also reported this week their parent company Digital First Media plans widespread layoffs and buyouts at its 11 newspapers that are part of the Southern California News Group (SCNG).
We found this nugget buried in the Orange County Register, which is one of those news organizations facing cuts:
Layoffs at SCNG and other Digital First publications including the San Jose Mercury News and Denver Post could also be propelled by the desires of the parent company — a New York-based hedge fund — to sell the company.
In Tully’s farewell, we learned that he named a new editor, who is the first female to ever hold that position in the Post’s 125-year history. We can only presume Lee Ann Colacioppo has an impeccable resume and is an excellent addition to the Post, because the only thing he actually tells us about her, is that she is a woman, who is so far doing a terrific job.
Welp, saying goodbye to our publisher pic.twitter.com/kvepVpfQcw
— Danika Worthington (@Dani_Worth) January 17, 2018
In all seriousness, we wish Colacioppo the best of luck as the newspaper digital news organization moves forward in these turbulent times.