Do you ever have one of those days where something happens three time zones away affect you because you were once fully invested in that arena?
For me, today was that day. Early Wednesday morning, news broke that about 100 ESPN staffers, plus or minus a few were being let go. The layoffs included both both on-air and online personalities. I won’t bore you with the complete list but among the most prominent are Ed Werder, Danny Kannell, Len Elmore, Trent Dilfer and Dr. Jerry Punch to name a few.
ESPN issued two statements early on Wednesday, including one from President John Skipper and a second from its deputies.
“A necessary component of managing change involves constantly evaluating how we best utilize all of our resources, and that sometimes involves difficult decisions,” Skipper said, in a statement. “Our content strategy—primarily illustrated in recent months by melding distinct, personality-driven SportsCenter TV editions and digital-only efforts with our biggest sub-brand—still needs to go further, faster…and as always, must be efficient and nimble. Dynamic change demands an increased focus on versatility and value, and as a result, we have been engaged in the challenging process of determining the talent—anchors, analysts, reporters, writers and those who handle play-by-play—necessary to meet those demands. We will implement changes in our talent lineup this week. A limited number of other positions will also be affected and a handful of new jobs will be posted to fill various needs.”
The reasons for the layoffs include but are not limited to rising costs of carrying various programming and the fact that ESPN has lost 10 million subscribers in five years. It’s easy to understand the reasons for the cuts. Highlight shows are not the necessity they once were. At 44, I’m old enough to remember having to watch pregame shows and highlight shows to get the information I desire. Now it is as simple as hitting Youtube or Google.
As a former media sports media member, I was never fortunate enough to get to ESPN but their story hits home for me. I know cynics of the media industry won’t shed a tear for them and I respect their right to feel that way. Days like this, however, evoke a different feeling for me.
I was fortunate enough to spend 18 years in the newspaper industry as a sports reporter before changing careers in December 2014. I have since become a route sales representative (which is an upscale title for truck driver). I made the move for an assortment of reasons: a) At some point, my love for the work could not overcome the fact that the income sucked, b) Lost family time from my wife and kids, and c) The industry changing in ways I was not willing to comply.
Though it never drew national headlines, I remember many staff meetings the last 10 years I spent in the newspaper industry where the narrative centered around company wide budget cuts from expenses to laying off staff. I could go along with the former but the latter, the more often it happened it sucked the life out of me. Watching people that I liked personally that had families to support suddenly see their livelihood taken from them was humbling.
I understand the business side of the layoffs. The print product has become de-emphasized as a way people get their news because of the technological era. However, watching people have their careers end and understanding why it happened did not make me feel better.
The biggest thing that makes me feel better was that I saw the shrinkage of the industry coming so I decided to do something about it. Throughout my years as a sports reporter, I was never given reason to think my job was in jeopardy but enough alarm bells sounded to where I could not stand pat. I acquired a skill that would not die, as in acquiring a Class B Driver’s License. You can do so many things with that skill from delivery driver, garbage truck driver, bus driver, street sweeper driving, etc.
I was fortunate enough for two years to drive buses part-time while remaining in the newspaper industry. That experience eventually paved the wave for my current job.
Mind you, I haven’t died as a writer. I get my fix through this online journal along with freelance sports reporting on high school football Fridays for my former employer, Napa Valley Publishing. I have no regrets changing careers. It was the best thing I did for me and my family, not necessarily in that order.
Journalism is nothing more than a sideline for me but that’s fine. I accepted that fate two years before I left the newspaper industry.
Hearing the fate of the aforementioned ESPN folks made me realize one thing, exiting the newspaper industry on my own terms means more to me every day.
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