I work for a newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times. As you may know, the Sun-Times recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection -- mainly because of the money embezzled by its former owner, Conrad Black, who is now in prison. The Sun-Times is also contractually obligated to pay his legal bills, believe it or not. Anyway, everybody I know on the editorial side has been told to take a mandatory one-week unpaid furlough, during which time we are not allowed to work. Mine is now. I'll be back the day after Labor Memorial Day (May 27).
In the meantime, please keep commenting. I can't respond, but somebody will continue to approve comments in my absence. See ya soon!
I also work in the newspaper industry (although not for one particular newspaper, rather for a conglomerate named Canwest), so I am dismayed to see papers going bankrupt left and right. Here's hoping the newspaper industry figures out how to monetize their internet content so they can stay afloat and not feel the need for any further furloughs!
We'll miss ya, Jim! Be sure to not have too much fun NOT working.
What's worse, a one-week unpaid furlough or a week filled with the films of Edward Furlong?
Jim, as much as it stinks to have an involuntary week off, I'm glad to hear that's all it is. We're glad to have you here!
Labor Day's on May 27th this year? :)
Wow, so sorry to hear about this. Love your blog, and hope you are doing well.
Good luck Jim, we'll be here when you get back...
Here's lookin' at you, kid... I once worked for the Jerusalem Post in the C. Black era. A terrible time. I'm sorry to hear of the furlough - but try to hang in there with the newspaper business. I'm out of it and I enjoy what I do, but there's nothing like the camaraderie of the newsroom.
Good riddence.
Balls. Hope everything works out OK, Jim.
Chalk up one more sin on the antichrist's list: bad spelling.
Hope everything works out. I find out next month if I keep my job or not. They're reviewing it now. I love Scanners Blog and definitely hope everything works out and you keep posting and editing for the Sun Times.
Take care Jim.
I still remember the halcyon days when there was no Internet, and no 24-hour news networks either. News was something you either held in your hand or watched at the appointed time each day. And because it was produced in much smaller quantities, it tended to focus its attention on things that actually mattered, instead of mindlessly attempting to fill airtime.
I'm sorry to hear about the Chicago SunTimes's financial woes, and the difficulties faced by the newspaper industry in general. It's sad that organizations like Google make more money collating newspaper articles on the Internet than the newspapers make by actually creating these articles in the first place.
As a Canadian, I'm also ashamed of Conrad Black. Of course, he is but a minor blip in the vast galaxy of wealthy con-men whose scams have brought down companies and entire national economies in recent news, but he is our particular embarrassment.
Here's to hoping that the Chicago SunTimes can find a way out of this.