It's not just Ann Moore and John Huey rallying the Time Inc. troops (or what's left of them). People's news editor Rob Howe just shot off a blast to his list of stringers who might be worried whether their cheques will ever be arriving. Rob's note reads, in part:
I would also like to reassure you. I'm told that many stringers have expressed concern, wondering whether they will still be needed. This answer is quite simple. Yes, absolutely. As we move towards a model where journalists report and write their stories, your work will become even more valuable.
Hopefully you've taken your Ivy League education to read that as: You're going to be paid the same, possibly less, to do more work. Enjoy!
Rob's full pep rally, after the jump.
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To all People magazine stringers:
Hello. As news spreads about changes at the magazine, I just wanted to touch base with all of you.
I'm sure that by now you've read or heard that we are closing our domestic bureaus in Chicago, Miami, Austin and D.C. It's a huge change-one necessitated by shifts and growing pressures in the publishing industry. In the process we will lose some terrific reporters-close colleagues
who have been with the magazine for years. I want to assure you that we will miss them all enormously, and that these decisions were extremely tough.
I would also like to reassure you. I'm told that many stringers have expressed concern, wondering whether they will still be needed. This answer is quite simple. Yes, absolutely. As we move towards a model where journalists report and write their stories, your work will become even more valuable.
Our ambitions and goals haven't changed: We want to put out the best magazine we can, we want to cover a broad range of news and issues, and we want to touch readers and lives across the country.
We value your work and professionalism, and we need your help.
Many thanks for listening. And if you questions about current assignments for those four bureaus, you can get in touch with the senior editor, or with me or Moira Bailey, Deputy Chief of
Correspondents (212/522.XXXX; XXX@peoplemag.com).
Rob Howe
News Editor
212/522.XXXX
XXX@peoplemag.com
No news here. What magazine that does big layoffs doesn't rely on their stringers to pull them through? According to Guild rules, the former correspondents can't be hired as stringers or it would look like they wanted to deny former employees their benefits while getting the benefit of their work still but as a stringer. And the stringers aren't going to care about the layoffs. They're still wanting a good, steady writing gig and realistically, they'll be needed more than ever. They're not stupid, they want and know a good steady writing gig when they need it. I would just not be happy if I was given the axe at People and knowing that places like EW, who are in the same company are hiring editors from other magazines while I had been a long time dedicated employee who was just given a pink slip.
that's the way the cookie crumbles