Talk about a sign of the times in the journalism industry. Staffers at theLongmont Times-Call
recently received an internal e-mail inviting them to work as valets at
a private Christmas party for the Lehman family, who own the paper. And
at least two employees have already accepted the offer.
recently received an internal e-mail inviting them to work as valets at
a private Christmas party for the Lehman family, who own the paper. And
at least two employees have already accepted the offer.
The party honors Ed Lehman, who’s currently in his 51st year as theTimes-Call‘s
publisher, and his wife Connie — and Dean Lehman, the paper’s editor
and president (and Ed’s son), says valets are needed because many of
the guests are elderly and may need a little extra help. So, too, do
small-market journalists in a struggling economy, so Lehman saw it as
natural to giveTimes-Call workers the chance to earn a
little extra cash as Christmas approaches. He says valets will earn the
same rate of pay they receive at their day job for the hours they work.
If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to killing journalism.
Via Romenesko.
A.
Journalism, like everything else, will only survive if it can be stamped out of plastic at $0.02 per item and shipped from whatever third world country over to here in a cargo container.
no xmas bonus for you.
“Whaddya mean, you’re getting no Christmas bonuses? Just park a few cars and you’ll have some extra money for the holidays!”
See, the wealthy ARE a better class of people!
Reminds me of when I got out of college and the only way I could afford to work at the first paper that offered me a job was to deliver it, too…
Did it ever occur to Herr Lehman to invite the riffraff who work for him, I wonder? What kind of holiday party will they be throwing at the paper this year?
I have encountered consistent difficulty in explaining theactual nature and structural constraints of the American press to entirely too many Americans.
In that regard, this is a wonderful catch, Athenae. In future, I can, and will, haul this story out as a referent.
Thank you.
the stenographers should relish the opportunity, and we know they’re already insured for their company time!
(that’s what he was thinking)
Oh, I worked at a law firm where the senior partner would throw these lavish parties at his “estate” and would send out the very same kind of e-mail to the staff of the firm. Not one non-attorney member of the office was invited to the party, of course. Then the senior partner would bring in the leftover food from the party for the staff to eat. We called them “Massa’s leavings.”