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I’ve got first word on names of today’s laid-off editorial staffers: Mike Jones, Anne Thompson, Alys Marshall, Phil Gallo, Andrew Barker, Byron Perry, Lisa Weinstein, Martha Hernandez, Diane Garrett, Ben Fritz and Jeff Sneider.
Variety finally wrote about the staff cuts this afternoon, confirming everything I’d posted about them:
“Due to the economic downturn, some 30 staffers will be trimmed by Reed Business in Los Angeles. The staff reductions span corporate, editorial, sales and other personnel. Among the businesses involved are Daily Variety, 411, Video Business and Trade Show Week.
Neil Stiles, president and publisher of Variety, said, “We continue to have confidence in the long-term growth of our businesses, but the economic realities of the moment call for a degree of belt-tightening.”
“The modest staff cuts will in no way compromise the editorial integrity of Variety or Daily Variety,” said editor-in-chief Peter Bart, who acknowledged that several of those cut were reporters and copy editors. “However, Neil and I deeply regret that any personnel had to be let go in these difficult times.”
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Oh dear! What about Dana Harris? Did that roach make it through this round as well? Her only skill is that she is big pals with Bart, so it would not surprise me. Guessing that old toad is still standing! Urgh!!!
So there goes film festival, music and videogames reporting… OUCH!
ANNE THOMPSON??!!!
This economy nightmare just won’t end. I don’t know these people personally, but I’m sorry for each of them.
Nikki, so many of your posts are about people being laid off, thanks for doing this…certain entities within our business don’t seem to understand this, and you during a time of personal sadness have REALLY stepped up to the plate.
Anne Thompson is someone you build a digital future on, not someone you layoff.
I think its a very short sighted decision on Variety’s part…ridding of coverage on everything this business is evolving into? Ridiculous.
Please take Dave McNary with you!
It pains me to see so many former colleagues being laid off, including solid, solid journalists who knew various aspects of the entertainment business very well and, unlike some of their online competitors, brought a level of care and conscientious and context to things. It’s not a surprise that cuts have happened, but extraordinarily painful regardless.
Oh, and think about this, what’s it say about this Oscar season when Variety is whacking a substantial percentage of its entire workforce a month before the ceremony? This is usually their money time, and clearly, it wasn’t coming in this year.
Damn, I dont even read variety that closely and i know like haf of those names. well there goes another paper.
From the Variety Site:
“The modest staff cuts will in no way compromise the editorial integrity of Variety or Daily Variety,” said editor-in-chief Peter Bart, who acknowledged that several of those cut were reporters and copy editors.
Not quite the number you ‘toldja’d’ from Variety, but still an extremely significant loss. I really hope they’ve saved some cash for raises, because that’s ALOT of extremely good and back-breaking reporters being shoved out the door. I shudder to think how difficult jamming out all that extra word-count will become for the survivors.
In typical myopic back-asswards fashion, RBI and Variety could have crushed THR for good with just a few more hires and had a complete Monopoly on the trade business (especially when the paper’s not even losing money). It is a wasted opportunity to accrue market share for a top brand even when it is at its most under-valued.
Seriously: Best of Luck to those who were cut loose! Go out and get yours!
This is a terrible decision. They are letting go several of the people who make Variety a must read. I have to particularly single out Ben Fritz as one who should have stayed. Variety’s video game coverage has really made a name for itself under Ben’s tenure, and his reporting gets linked all over the internet on heavily traffic sites. In a time when the worlds of video games and films are converging quickly, few people really understand the result, and Ben is one of those people
I’m sad that Anne Thompson got laid off. She’s a good writer, and probably a nice person on top of that.
Anne Thompson a nice person??? You have got to be kidding, she is a slimeball and terrible reporter. People on staff hated working with her and she is probably the only one who got what she deserved. Good riddance.
Anna Thompson was bargain basement reporting at best. Sloppily written english-wise and riddled with errors. Her getting the pink slip is no loss.
Wow, can’t believe that they fired Anne Thompson, Diane Garrett and Ben Fritz. Apparently, Variety has decided that new media are not worth covering. The timing of Ben being let go is particularly ironic since numbers just came out today that showed video games selling $32 billion in 2008 versus only $29 billion for Blu-ray/DVD, the first time in history that video games have outsold home entertainment. Variety should have fired some of the older staff in redundant coverage areas, not the new media crucial to their maintaining relevance going forward.
You know, I don’t give a flying flip what your negative personal feelings are about any of these people who have lost their jobs. We should all feel damned sorry for them and hope to god it doesn’t happen to us. But to besmirch someone so nastily from behind the screen of this comment board is nothing but cowardice and hatefulness. You should be ashamed of yourself, Oh My Gawd. You’re a tacky person.
Big Ben Fritz fan. I’m sure he’ll land on his feet.
I read Anne Thompson’s blog througout Sundance and thought…this is it? This is the best you’ve got? She seems like a nice person but this blog could not possibly have been her full time job (ONE blog per day…from SUNDANCE???). Not to blow smoke, but I’m afraid Ms Finke’s aggressive, up-to-the-second 24/7-even-when-her-father’s-died reporting has rendered every other Hollywood blogger irrelevent. Anne Thompson’s heart never seemed in it and I’m not surprised she’s gone.
I disagree with Anonymous — as a games industry insider, I can tell you that Ben Fritz’ coverage is a joke…the only reason people trade his links is to mock the errors, or howl in outrage at the bad reporting. Actually, I do agree with Anonymous about something being terrible, only it wasn’t the decision to fire Fritz that was terrible, it was the man’s reporting.
Come on. Don’t trash people who just lost their jobs through no fault of their own–unless they’re convicted pedophiles or something. Nobody deserves this ecomony and anyone who gloats will get theirs, I feel pretty sure.
“Anne Thompson a nice person???…..Good riddance.”
Thanks for joining the chat, Mr. Bart! Finally figured out the whole commenting thing, have you?
How strange it must be to have one’s being canned made public. Surely these people deserve some privacy in a hard moment, no?
Why list their names?
“Sloppily written english-wise”: no more calls, ladies and gentlemen: the prize for unintended, self-deflating irony has been claimed.
To Also Anonymous. Grow a pair and post your name like an honest person or get off the boards.
Removing Ben Fritz, or any of the new media presence for that matter, is a step backwards for Variety or any publication purporting to look forward into the future of entertainment and not backwards into the past. It’s also a step backwards for the video game industry, which needs more unbiased and factual reporting instead of just a bunch of enthusiasts with an axe to grind. But I guess you’re just one of those enthusiasts, so there’s really no point in talking to you. And now, without a forum for journalism related to games, we’re going to have no place to talk anyway. So it’s a shame.
As a member of the THR laid-off class of Dec 2008, I wish my once and future colleagues at Reed the best of luck. At least Variety had the guts to write about its layoffs… THR just changed the locks. You stay classy, Wilshire Blvd.
Never seen one blog post or article slamming Mr. Fritz’s writing, so I’d love to see “Also” back that up. I have seen some people take issue with his reviews, but of course, those are a matter of opinion. In my experience, his hard reporting is heads above any other game journalist, bar none.