Cool vacations--at least with pay

Beacon Journal staffers are being encouraged to take a week of vacation now, -- appearently because it will show that David Black is meeting his fiscal ogligations in a timely fashion. See the recent report on financial status of Black Papers Ltd.

At leasf BJ employees are not being asked to take vactaion without pay as some other publishers are asking.

Here is Mansfield’s blog entry:

“Everyone -- reporters included -- looks forward to vacation time, but how would you feel if you were encouraged to take your vacation right away.

“That's what's happening at the ABJ where staffers tell me that a mass push is underway to get every employee to take one week's vacation in the next month or so.

“The paper's bottom line can apparently benefit from being able to show that vacation time is being paid and not accrued. Represented employees can say "no" but one writer told me that he's planning to go ahead and do it to "be a good sport" and help the company.

“Still, for an organization that isn't quite staffed by even 50 percent of what it once was, how can it afford to have larger quantities of folks out on vacation at the same time?

“And by the way ... Bob Dyer's comments about the NewsNight Akron set were right on the money. Some viewers hate it that I stand (or used to stand) while others aren't bothered; some folks hate the moving traffic in the background while others seem to like it. I'm just pleased that the show has a large enough audience (#1 on Western Reserve Public Media) that complaints warrant discussion.”