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Wojo (left), Lynn Henning (top) and Neal Rubin
As part of a cost saving measure, The Detroit News has asked some key writers -- including columnist Bob Wojnowski, a decades-long fixture of the sports page -- to take pay cuts or accept a buyout, sources familiar with the situation tell Deadline Detroit.
Other writers who've been asked to accept lower pay or a severance package include reporter-columnist Neal Rubin, baseball columnist Lynn Henning and veteran hockey reporter Gregg Krupa. If any take cuts, they may also be forced into different assignments.
Krupa has been reassigned to the metro desk, where he worked earlier, and has made no secret of being unhappy, says a newsroom insider.
All four writers are in their 50s and 60s and had recently been called into individual meetings with Managing Editor Gary Miles and a human resources department representative.
It's unclear how much of a reduction each was asked to take, but one source said it appeared to be more than 20 percent, on average. The offers of a paycut and the reassignment appeared to be an encouragement to take a buyout and leave the paper.
Kurt Nagl of Crain's Detroit Business reported in late December that both Detroit's major dailies plan newsroom shrinkage:
Top brass at the Detroit Free Press plan to lay off up to six employees from the paper's bargaining unit after voluntary buyouts were offered in October by parent company Gannett Co. Inc.
Meanwhile, some employees at the Detroit News might be subject to the same fate if voluntary buyouts don't achieve its budget targets.
Newspapers around the country have struggled during the internet era to figure out ways to make a profit. Many have turned to buyouts and layoffs.
The Dallas Morning News annoiunced this week that it's laying off 43 employees, including 20 in the newsroom.
