Tough Times at the Trib

The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com, and News Channel 8 have announced another round of lay-offs.

This comes after three previous announcements in the past couple of years.

Staff must be running thin. I still like and watch Channel 8, and I do peruse TBO most days. Something I do find disturbing is that most TBO stories are printed verbatim in the Tribune within the next few days.

Soooo……the Tribune has become a vehicle for old news surrounded by advertising. I do think that regional sections still have value. In the Northwest section, reporter Courtney Pastor writes upbeat stories about our schools.

But, for the bang of my buck, the St. Pete Times is the better buy. Fresher news, more reporting, more in-depth reporting. The cash crunch has no doubt put the Trib on a downward death spiral.

With other major dailies closing shop around the country, the Tampa Tribune must be next in line….and the Times must be just a pickin and a grinning. Oh yeah, they’ll have some editorial salute to an old friendly competitor, but they’ll be celebrating just the same.

The upside is….the Times will pick up the better Tribune reporters when it expands exponentially in Hillsborough County. A second upside is…the “hate the school district” and the “hate the superintendent” editorial writers will get their just rewards. Of course, they can all become internet hacks like myself and Rosemary Goudreau.

posted by admin @ 6:56 PM