Fat-Cat Newspaper Execs Don't Answer to Readers, Alice Cherbonnier, The Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinal
The economy is hurting and belt-tightening is occurring in all industries. But newspaper execs apparently have nothing to worry about, reports Alice Cherbonnier, writing in the The Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinal. 'The heads of 12 publicly held newspaper companies took home an average of $3.6 million each last year.' This is particularly disturbing when one realizes that these same papers are laying off employees and reducing the amount of news coverage. So, while the top execs are still earning the big bucks, newspapers are sacrificing their employees and their quality to uphold the bottom line during this economic downturn. A competent press is one of the most vital elements of a democratic society - which makes this trend in cost-cutting particularly dangerous. What's resulting is a climate where 'newspaper CEOs are increasingly being compensated based on stock prices and how their companies perform financially - not for producing quality journalism.'
--Al Paulson
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