Insider EIC Carlson tells non-striking workers to pace themselves

Insider editor in chief Nicholas Carlson has told non-striking editorial staffers to pace themselves as they try to publish content to keep web traffic from dropping, reports Alexandra Steigrad of The New York Post.

Steigrad reports, “In a Slack message reviewed by The Post, Editor-in-chief Nicholas Carlson — who has been forced to write 11 stories himself since the strike started — warned that the chaos ‘may last a little longer’ as reporters continued to strike over wages, benefits and layoffs that claimed 10% of the workforce last month.

“‘I know you’re tired. I’m tired too,’ Carlson wrote on Thursday morning to non-union staffers, which include editors and reporters based outside the US. ‘So I have an important message: we are exiting the ‘do this on adrenaline’ phase, and moving into a phase where we have to keep serving our audience, but in a way that it’s sustainable for you.’

“‘You can’t have an environment like that where people don’t take breaks,’ Carlson added.

“Sources said the message was in response to complaints from managers about the punishing workload, which includes churning out multiple stories a day, repurposing old stories — and in at least one case — publishing a rough draft of a reporter’s story in a desperate bid to keep web traffic from plummeting.”

Read more here.