Thirty-Four Staffers, Including Longtime Vets, Take 'Journal Sentinel' Buyout

By: E&P Staff The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel confirmed Thursday that 29 full-time and 5 part-time employees have accepted buyouts earlier this week as part of the paper's ongoing effort to cut costs. Those affected reportedly include some of the paper's notable arts and entertainment correspondents, though Journal Sentinel President and Publisher Elizabeth Brenner would not confirm any names or tenure.

"Like many newspapers, the realities of today's environment requires Journal Sentinel to get smaller and align our costs with lower revenue," Brenner told E&P Online in an e-mail. "This means reducing our workforce as we restructure with a focus on the skills needed for today. Our goal is to continue to be the high quality news leader in Southeastern Wisconsin."

According to a report in The Business Journal of Milwaukee, Monday night was the deadline for newsroom staff to apply for the buyout, and layoffs are anticipated if not enough staffers agree to a buyout. Greg Pearson, president of the newsroom employees union, told The Business Journal that Journal Sentinel executives have said "substantially more" positions must be eliminated.

Among the prominent writers who have reportedly accepted the buyout are broadcast media columnist Tim Cuprisin, theater critic Damien Jaques, books editor Geeta Sharma-Jensen, education reporter Alan Borsuk, pop music writer Dave Tianen, music/dance writer Tom Strini and business columnist Tannette Johnson-Elie.

This is the fourth round of buyouts since fall 2007 at the Milwaukee daily, which is owned by Journal Communications, Inc. In that time, Pearson estimated, the number of newsroom staff had dropped from 300 to 240 before this week's buyouts. Brenner only indicated that the newsroom staff was down 13% from last year.

Under the terms of the buyout agreement, departing employees would receive two weeks of pay for each year at the newspaper. Full-timers with 15 or more years of service would receive an additional 10 weeks of severance pay and full-time employees with less than 15 years would get an additional five weeks? pay, according to the Business Journal.

"I'm fine," Tianen, 63, told The Business Journal in an e-mail. "I feel badly for the many friends and colleagues who are younger and face a very uncertain future. And, of course, it?s sad to see the accelerating decay of the institution."

Tianen had worked at the paper for 21 years, while Borsuk and Jaques had worked at the Journal Sentinel for 37 years each, Cuprisin for 23 years, Strini for 27, and Sharma-Jensen for 20.