Death by a thousand cuts?

It seems the industry that was my life for 34 years is in a steady downward spiral...and Fairfax is leading the way. 

Change is inevitable...nothing stays the same forever. But if you are trying to sell a product, why would you expect your customers to want to buy an inferior version? The product has to suffer if you remove a quarter of those responsible for producing it (unless you are working with a totally bloated model...and I think a lot of the fat was cut in previous trimmings). There are only so many times you can trim something before what is left is useless, or has no value.

Fairfax's regional arm (ACM) has been undergoing severe restructuring (cutting) for some time. Many very talented and passionate people have been lost to the industry (almost 100 years of photographic experience walked out of The Advocate alone). Some may argue the restructure removed a lot of dead wood, but I think if you could find someone to say the product is better since the changes, they would be in the minority. And if you could find one member of the public that thinks the customer service experience is better, I would be very surprised.

I have no issue with those still producing the paper...they are doing their very best within the confines of the new system. The Advocate is not alone in this. Anecdotally, I understand the same applies across the whole network.

I chose to leave because I could not see myself being able to produce the quality of work I pride myself on...or see a healthy work/life balance with so few staff. 

Pruning can be beneficial. Many plants thrive after a good trim. But, if the cuts are too deep...the plant dies.

I hope this is not the case for my friends and ex-colleagues within greater Fairfax and I don't think News Ltd will be immune.

Until next week...