Buyouts

Newspaper buyouts remind me of the days when
popularity determined who could
ride along in a car packed full of teenagers. Here's the scenario: A
group of about five high
schoolers decided they wanted to escape campus
hell for awhile. So they got
together with the person who had a driver's
license and a car. Then as they
traipsed across campus to leave, more people
wanted to tag along. By the
time the group got to the car, they were a group
of 20. As many people as
possible squeezed into the four door compact car.
But only a fourth of the group
would fit-the most popular and not the biggest, space
inefficient people. That's
kinda how it is in the newsroom except that too
many people want to squeeze
into the car and many of those people may be old
heads who need to give it up anyway.
The effect: hard feelings and
crushed spirits. I may be
exaggerating but that's how the prospect of
newspapers buyouts makes me
feel.