Pros

Good pay and benefits with the freedom to do good journalism. They are a large newspaper chain that can offer opportunities to transfer to other cities across the nation. Perhaps working here in a good starter job can lead to better opportunity elsewhere.

Cons

The downward spiral of the newspaper business has cut budgets and reduced manpower. Management is top-heavy. Reporters and others have to do more with less. Right now, they have instituted a one-year wage freeze. There have been at least two rounds of buyouts and layoffs at most papers this year alone. Many of the advertising design jobs were outsourced to India last year. The company is still looking for every possible way to outsource its printing and prepress operations. There is even expressed doubt that they will want to continue printing any newspapers down the road. Online revenue is promising, but barely supports the journalists needed to deliver the news. And the pay for online expertise lags others in the industry.

Advice to Senior Management

Drop a few editors down to work the trenches. How many AMEs do they really need? Every reporter should maintain a blog, but don't expect it to drive views. I guess there's no way to clear the clutter off the home page. Try word ads, they get better hits and are less obtrusive.