I ran across this note from Ray Steele, publisher of the Fresno Bee sent this morning:
Because of continuing economic challenges, we are implementing an across-the-board wage freeze.
This is an important part of our effort to manage through an economic downturn that is having an unprecedented negative effect on revenues, and, therefore, our financial health. While we have taken many steps to reorganize and streamline operations to respond to these economic challenges and change our business model, we need to do more to control expenses.
This is definitely a major discouragement, especially at a time when most of us newspaper employees are already discouraged. Its not the end of the world, but it certainly seems to be just one bad thing after another. Most of us could feel this coming a long way off, but seeing it in your inbox makes it much more real.