Uneven coverage of BusinessWeek sale

Former BusinessWeek staffer Gary Weiss writes that the coverage of the sale of the weekly magazine has been contradictory in terms of whether there will be layoffs.

Weiss writes, “Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal said today that the layoff was ‘an option presented to bidders as a starting point to make the publication profitable again.’ The Journal said, ‘The cost-cutting plans included slashing about 25% of BusinessWeek’s editorial staff, mostly for support functions, according to the people familiar with the matter.’

“The Journal quoted a memo to employees by BW president Keith Fox, saying ‘Nothing is planned at this time, but business requirements, including resource needs, ultimately will be negotiated with any prospective buyer.’ So I guess the memo outlining the planned layoff didn’t mean what it said.

“I think the Times might want to either clarify or correct or reiterate its previous reporting.

“By the way, copy editing is hardly a ‘support function,’ and I don’t understand the ‘people familiar with the matter’ attribution. This was first reported in the Times, for chrissakes.”

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