Grumpy Editor

WHITE COLLAR WORKERS HIT BY RECENT LAYOFFS

 

Recent layoffs have smacked white-collar workers the hardest, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

“Demand has fallen sharply for profesionals in technology, legal, scientific and finance fields,” notes The Wall Street Journal.

 

Amazon. com, for example, is cutting roughly three percent of its staff.  That translates to about 10,000 workers in its retail, devices, human resources and other divisions.

 

Salaried and office staff also are being hit at Ford Motor Co. and Walmart.

 

 

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NEW YORK TIMES STAFFERS EYE WALKOUT.  Chairman of the guild representing New York Times staffers, advises the newspaper’s publisher that “if there is no contract by Dec. 8, we are walking out.”  That will involve more than 1,000 employees.

 

MORE WOMEN IN GOVERNOR POSITIONS.  Going into the new year, a record number of women will hold governor positions.  Four newcomers join eight already in that post.

 

‘GASLIGHTING’ IS WORD OF THE YEAR.  Merriam-Webster names “gaslighting” word of the year.  It means behavior that is grossly misleading or downright deceitful.

 

WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE TO FADE.  On Christmas Day The Washington Post is ending the print version of The Washington Post Magazine. The magazine has 10 staffers.  Those positions will be eliminated.

 

NEW FLYING WING AIRCRAFT DEBUTS. A B-21 Raider, first new long-range bomber in more than 30 years, debuts in Palmdale, Calif.  At a $750 million price tag, the B-21 boasts a futuristic flying-wing design and can fly deep behind enemy lines evading detection --- and could eventually fly without a pilot.

 

DOG SAVES OWNER IN HOUSE FIRE.   Kansas man, asleep in his bed, credits his dog with saving his life in a house fire.  With a portion of his house engulfed in flames, his whimpering six-year-old pit bull nudged his head.  Both escaped the flames.

 

CANINES FAVOR ELECTRIC CARS.  In other canine news --- after observing 20 dogs on short journeys in electric and diesel vehicles, researchers find they were more restless in diesel.  They also note dog heart rates are reduced up to 30 percent in electric cars.

 

PANDEMIC TRIGGERS MORE LAYOFFS OF TV STAFFERS

More TV staffers were caught in layoffs last week, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

ABC News was hit as part of major restructuring and job cuts across Walt Disney Co.

 

A report said layoffs were in the “low single digit” percentage of the news division's workforce that employs about 1,400.

 

Disney’s Television Group also eliminated positions in general entertainment divisions.

 

Radio Disney is ceasing operations.  ESPN cut jobs last month.  

 

The ABC action follows other network’s layoffs during the year at CBS News, NBC News and Fox News.

 

The pandemic exacerbates a volatile media environment, with a push toward streaming and digital.

 

 

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Koala breaks into home, climbs Christmas tree

 

KOALA WITH CHRISTMAS SPIRIT.  Near Adelaide, southern Australia, a koala broke into a home and immediately climbed the Christmas tree.  The tree-climbing koala is an iconic animal, often called the koala “bear."

 

PEARL HARBOR ANNIVERSARY TODAY.  Today marks the 69th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  It resulted in four battleships sunk, four others damaged.  Also sunk or damaged were three cruisers, three destroyers and a minelayer, while 188 aircraft were destroyed, 2,402 people were killed and 1,282 wounded, mostly Navy personnel.

 

NAVY LOSES ANOTHER SHIP.  The Navy will decommission the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard following heavy damage from a five-day fire in July near San Diego.  It would have cost up to $3.2 billion to rebuild the vessel.

 

PANDEMIC BOOSTS DAYTIME TV.  The pandemic is boosting daytime television.  Nielsen, the ratings and research firm, says daytime now is "a second prime time" as office workers and professionals are at home instead of the office --- sneaking in some viewing time.

 

ONLY SERVICE ANIMALS CAN FLY.  In a new ruling, dogs are the only service animals allowed to fly on passenger planes.  Emotional support animals are no longer considered service animals, which the Department of Transportation now defines solely as trained dogs.

 

PANDEMIC ELEVATES CREDIT CARD USE.  Many Americans, losing income in the pandemic, are falling deeper into debt and being forced to pay bills, rent or mortgage on credit cards, posing trouble ahead for the economy. 

 

FIRST RESCUE DOG WILL BE IN WHITE HOUSE.  President-elect Joe Biden’s adopted German Shepherd, Major, will be the first rescue dog to take up residence in the White House.  He will join Biden’s other dog, Champ.

 

STRUGGLING NEWSPAPERS FIND FINANCIAL AID HARD TO FIND

Newspapers, struggling for survival, are finding it difficult to get financial aid to curb layoffs and payroll cuts, observes Grumpy Editor.

The Wall Street Journal, citing data from the Alliance for Audited Media, reports, “Papers representing more than 80 percent of U.S. circulation are disqualified from the government’s Paycheck Protection Program because of the way their companies are structured.”

 

The Journal adds, “The issue has prompted a bipartisan push in Congress to either amend PPP rules to make an exception for local news, or get news organizations other forms of aid in the next stimulus bill.”

 

The Paycheck Protection Program features loans designed to provide direct incentives for small businesses to keep workers on payrolls. The Small Business Administration will forgive loans if all employees are kept on payrolls for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities.

 

However, some news outlets are ineligible for PPP loans because parent companies own large businesses unrelated to news.

 

University of North Carolina research finds the U.S. has lost 2,100 newspapers in the past six years, leaving 1,800 communities wirthout a news source.

 

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MOST FEEL TRUMP SLOW IN CORONAVIRUS ACTION.   Pew Research Center finds nearly two-thirds of Americans (65 percent) say President Donald Trump was too slow to take major steps to address the threat to the U.S. when coronavirus cases were first reported in other countries.

 

FOX BUSINESS VIEWERS UP.  Fox Business Network total viewers jumped 80 percent in April, attracted by news about the economy and stock market in uncertain times.

 

CLOSED NEWSPAPER REVIVED.  The Los Angeles Times-owned Glendale (Calif.) News-Press which closed last month, will be revived by the publisher of the nearby La Canada Outlook.   Established in 1905, lack of advertising forced the News-Press to stop the presses.

 

PBS'S JIM LEHRER HONORED.  PBS NewsHour plans the Jim Lehrer Journalism Fellowship "in honor of award-winning, longtime PBS NewsHour anchor and co-founder Jim Lehrer.”   Lehrer passed away at age 85 in January. The award-winning newsman co-anchored "PBS NewsHour" alongside Robert MacNeil for two decades before anchoring the program solo for nearly 16 years.

NO CITIZENSHIP PROOF NEEDED.  A federal appeals court panel rules Kansas cannot require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering.

NON-THEATER FILMS OKAYED FOR OSCARS.  Eligibility for the next Oscars — set for Feb. 28, 2021 — is expanded to include films that were not release in theaters because of the nationwide shutdown. 

 

MORE LOCUSTS SWARM EAST AFRICA.  Another wave of locusts, 20 times larger than the first, are expected to swarm across East Africa, resulting in slashing agricultural production and mass food shortages.