For those who missed it this week, the Sacramento Business Journal ran a story on the Davis Enterprise cutting four positions in the news room this week.
That alone would be news as the paper is having to further contract, in light of declining advertising revenue during this time of economic downturn.
“We thought we could stand the brunt of the bad stuff,” Debbie Davis told the Sacramento Business Journal. “But we’ve been losing money and had to stem the red ink.”
How devastating are these cuts? According to the article, the four employees laid off this week include “associate editor Linda DuBois, entertainment editor Derrick Bang, sports writer Conor Tekautz and Marianne Freeman, a member of the production staff.”
“The reductions leave a newsroom staff of 16; 10 are full time and six, part-time. The Enterprise has lost about a third of its newsroom staff in less than three years. The paper eliminated its Monday edition in February 2009,” the Business Journal reports.
All of that makes a good deal of sense until one reads this, “The cuts also follow loss of an advertising contract with Hanlees Toyota, fall-out from a column written by Bob Dunning. Classified advertising is down, too, due to the sluggish economy.”
The question is, why would Bob Dunning’s column cause Hanlees to pull their advertising?
First of all, he has opposed the Zipcar deal to a logical absurdity. And second, he praised the million-dollar loan to Hanlees.
As the Sacramento Business Journal reported in August, “The city agreed this week to loan up to $1 million to Hanlees Automotive Group so the company can establish a Volkswagen dealership near its other brands along Davis’ auto row.”
“The Volkswagen dealership, which would relocate from Napa, would set up shop in Hanlees’ former Ford store at 5000 Chiles Road. The Ford dealership closed in October as part of the automaker’s consolidation, leaving a vacancy in the Davis Auto Center,” the Business Journal continued.
“Hanlees, the dealer with the most auto brands in Davis, needs the city’s financial help in order to construct and establish the Volkswagen store, which would employ 30,” they reported. “The city, in return, would attract more shoppers, increase sales- and property-tax revenue, and generate jobs.”
On September 14, Bob Dunning contrasted the Zipcar deal, that he described as a “one-sided, give-away-the-store contract with Zipcar,” to the “one-time, million-dollar loan to local car dealership Hanlees.”
He continues, “Now, take the million-dollar loan to Hanlees, a longtime, locally-owned, solid corporate citizen in this town that has provided many, many local jobs over the years, has provided great amounts of tax revenue to the city and has contributed mightily to many worthy local causes … exactly the kind of business our town can and should be proud of …”
Furthermore, “The council, acting as the Davis Redevelopment Agency, agreed to lend Hanlees $1 million at 3.5 percent interest over 10 years with the possibility the loan can be forgiven in its entirety if the dealership generates significant tax revenues for the city … and exactly how does Hanlees generate significant tax revenues for the city? … by selling cars … lots and lots of cars … which, not surprisingly, puts more cars onto Davis roads, the exact opposite of the stated goal of the Zipcar contract.”
Mr. Dunning continues, “The loan to Hanlees will be used to bring a new Volkswagen dealership to Davis and certainly can be defended as part of a redevelopment effort to add jobs and sales tax revenue to the city … besides, it’s a loan, not an outright gift like Zipcar has received, and no city employees will be required to maintain or advertise Hanlees ‘ vehicles … but the only way that loan gets repaid is if Hanlees goes gangbusters and sells all sorts of new cars to Davis residents.”
He concludes, “There is no requirement that these be “green” cars or “electric” cars or anything of the sort … just sell a whole bunch of cars and pay us back through the increased tax revenues such sales will generate … the city, in fact, is banking on it, actually rooting for Hanlees to sell hundreds and hundreds of new cars over the life of the loan.”
As you can see there is not one hint of criticism in that entire segment. Zipcar would probably be justified if they wanted to pull an advertising contract from the paper, but Hanlees?
According to our research, that is the only time that Mr. Dunning even mentions Hanlees in his column.
From that it would appear illogical that Hanlees would pull their advertising from the Davis Enterprise.
So the question is why would Debbie Davis blame Bob Dunning for this? Even if it is true, why mention him by name at all?
I certainly have gone toe-to-toe with Mr. Dunning on a few issues in this community, as my regular readers can attest. But here he appears blameless.
I asked Mr. Dunning about this and first of all, he read the story for the first time when I sent it to him. And second, he was not inclined to stir the pot.
He found it difficult to believe that they would have pulled the ad based on what he wrote, but said he had no problem with Debbie Davis sharing it, if that’s what happened.
I understand that puts Dunning in a tough position of criticizing his boss, and even Bob Dunning probably is not inclined to do that. I simply see no plausible explanation that Dunning’s column led to Hanlees pulling their advertising.
However, this episode does illustrate, unfortunately, that not only is the City of Davis reliant on auto sales for their sales tax revenue, but the Davis Enterprise is reliant on the auto companies for their ad revenue. We know that the Davis Enterprise took a hit when Gottschalks went under.
In the long run, the newspaper companies that survive are going to have to restructure how they make money. And that is going to be a struggle.
For her part, Debbie Davis feels that the Davis Enterprise will survive in part because the community is committed to having it survive.
“It’s a lot of years to lose in one day and very difficult,” Debbie Davis told the Sacramento Business Journal. “It’s hard to say goodbye to people you’ve worked with for a long time and who mean something to you as a person. Yet already, I am forced to move beyond this and lead people into the future.
“Honestly, I’m sad, but if any paper makes it in the Great New World, it’ll be a paper like the Enterprise because the community really cares that we make it,” Ms. Davis said. “The challenge is how to figure out, with fewer people who are busier than ever and always have more stories than they can write, how to avoid burn-out.”
They also report that there is no talk of closing any of the McNaughton Newspapers chain, which includes seven local papers: The Daily Republic in Fairfield, the Mountain Democrat in Placerville, the Winters Express, the Georgetown Gazette, Cameron Park Life and El Dorado Hills Life.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
It’s not surprising to me that the Enterprise is losing money and going the way of most of the left slanted newspapers in America. Personally, the only reason I ever bought the Enterprise was to read Dunning and to stay abreast of local politics. The paper’s stories, editorials and political cartoons and are almost always left slanted which is why I no longer subscribe. I’ve contacted the paper and Debbie Davis requesting a more balanced approach but to no avail. Maybe someday the Enterprise will come to realise that conservatives buy newspapers too.
This is a really sad story, and one has to wonder if the Dunning reference to the Enterprise financial plight was accurately reported. As was stated, blaming Bob for the loss of the Toyota ad makes no sense at all. I’d like to see Debbie Davis comment on this story, or better yet, ask Hanlee. Only Bob was asked, and he sounded as perplexed as we are.
For me, the loss of Derrick Bang was a far more disturbing story. His movie reviews and cinema history columns are better than one finds in much larger media outlets. Plus, he is a genuine nice guy. One Derrick Bang fan I know (and there are many) is threatening to quit her subscription in protest, the last thing the Enterprise needs to hear.
Predictably, Editor, Debbie Davis, puts a positive spin on this latest down-sizing and says the community will not let the Enterprise fail.
But nothing in recent economic history supports that wishful notion. Community support is disappearing in the face of blander reporting of stale news, smaller editions, and fewer publications. Dunning and Bang were the only reasons to go out to the driveway and pick up this failing “enterprise.” Now, one of those is gone.
A community needs a local paper to keep the public fully aware, but the trend everywhere else is unmistakable. Newspapers are either dead or dying.
Soon, we won’t be going out to our driveway to get the news anymore. We just sit down and hit the computer keyboard with a cup of coffee in hand, just like I’m doing right now.
Phil: I pretty much agree with your entire post there.
Rusty: The Enterprise to me is an establishment paper, it supports whoever is in power which means leftish on issues of national import; but hardcore developer and establishment bias on local issues. And few read the Enterprise for their view of Obama or Jerry Brown, but it is the source of news at least to a segment of the population about the local happenings.
“The Enterprise to me is an establishment paper, it supports whoever is in power which means leftish on issues of national import; but hardcore developer and establishment bias on local issues. And few read the Enterprise for their view of Obama or Jerry Brown, but it is the source of news at least to a segment of the population about the local happenings.”
But their views do effect their readership. After I didn’t renew my subsciption I received a call from the Enterprise asking me to reup, when I told the sales lady “no” because the paper leans too left she said that
she hears that alot.
Davis Enterprise Did It To Themselves
Revenues down Debbie Davis? Of course that would have nothing to do with the Davis Enterprise’s decision to be one of 2 or 3 [sarcasm] newspapers in the nation to charge for access rather than allow full access under the pay per click model that the vast majority of outlets use.
Of Course The Enterprise Is Special
The Davis Enterprise as “special” would have to be the rationalization for being one of 2 or 3 out of 3300 newspapers nationwide who charge for access.
The Enterprise is the worst of both worlds. The front page is plastered head to foot with ads in every orifice and only paid access to the majority of the content. In fact, the Enterprise is visually an insult to the reader… like really bad wall paper… The Enterprise front page is a view into the mind of a dyslexic ADHA sufferer…
Let Us Examine Special
It is fair to say the Enterprise possesses the following attributes: The Davis Enterprise is the US Congress of newspapers. Lobbyists like Local and California Association of Realtors write the bills (articles) and hand it to the Enterprise to pass (publish)… or pass off as faux news with out the least bit of analysis or criticism.
Likewise with the Davis Downtown Business Association… DDBA writes the bill (news), Enterprise passes (publishes) the bill without even reading it… just like our beloved US Congress… UC Davis? Print their press releases verbatim… City of Davis? What ever you say Mr Emlen, Mr. Saylor, Ms. Amundsen, Ms. Boyd, Ms. Wolk, Mr. Skinner… what ever you say we print… Rock no boats, offend no advertiser.
So what kind of news does that provide the Davis public? A shill sheet, not a newspaper… the Woodland Daily Democrat provides better reporting… and it’s access is free. The Democrat has enough confidence in its product that they went with PPC advertising.
So, who is responsible for lost revenues Debbie Davis? Why do you think so many of us read the Vanguard? I think I will click on a few of David’s ads to make sure I support his excellent reporting…
Toxic Ink and Solvent Center
One other thing Ms. Davis… Could you please move your press, your petroleum based inks (soy based are still 90% petroleum so don’t even start with that BS) and toxic acetone solvents out of downtown to one of those industrial “research” parks on the fringe of Davis that the Enterprise so vehemently shilled for all these years?
We would like to have something a little nicer and less toxic at 3rd and G…
Like it or not, if the Enterprise folds, there will be no high school news, elementary school news, or school board issues (except those that rise to controversial, which this blog will pick up, with the slant(s) of the participants)… no AYSO soccer news… no easy advertising for the boutique/trendy shops in the downtown… this could be interesting…
Geez, there’s some serious anger/vitriol in this community.
I think the Enterprise is a tremendous community asset as is any other media/forum for sharing information. And I appreciate the Enterprise affording the DDBA and any other stakeholder, or individual the opportunity to communicate with the public, just like this forum does. Is the Enterprise perfect? No. But what would be left of our community if we threw every imperfect asset into an incinerator? Perhaps only the comments typically posted to the Vanguard.
Laying off 4 hard working people is a shame , especially when laying off one employee probably would of pencilled out the same financially . If I was in charge of the Enterprise I would of let go of Rich Rifkin , you know the columnist who prints hearsay instead of facts . Maybe he could step up and do the right thing and step down so these 4 hard working people can have there jobs back !
I appreciate the Davis Enterprise for its Editorial Page particularly. Personally I have used it as a way to get serious issues front and center to the public. Had it not been for the Editorial Page, we might not have our commissions intact IMHO. Do I agree with everything the Davis Enterprise does? Of course not. But then I don’t agree with everything this blog does either. People can agree to disagree. But I do think it would be unfortunate if the Davis Enterprise folded.
That said, I am at a complete loss why Debbie Davis would claim Bob Dunning’s column about Hanlee’s would cause Hanlee’s to pull their advertising. It just doesn’t make sense. I suspect there is something more to this story than meets the eye. Has anyone approached Hanlee’s, to get Hanlee’s side of the story?
P. Coleman: For me, the loss of Derrick Bang was a far more disturbing story. His movie reviews and cinema history columns are better than one finds in much larger media outlets. Plus, he is a genuine nice guy. One Derrick Bang fan I know (and there are many) is threatening to quit her subscription in protest, the last thing the Enterprise needs to hear.
I understood that Bang would continue writing reviews for the Enterprise, perhaps on a free-lance basis. Bang is one person who’s likely to land on his feet. He’s a published author and has run a business before (the Game Preserve). I can’t imagine that we’ve seen the last of him. In fact, I could see him transitioning to a blog format for his work. Perhaps his work would be a great asset to have here on the Vanguard (David: hint hint).
The Enterprise needs to find a better way to draw readers to its webpage. The Vanguard is very good at continuing community discussion that sometimes begin in the Enterprise op-ed page. Op-eds & editorial letters on the Enterprise are interesting to read, but the Vanguard offers a wider spectrum of local topics to discuss.
Perhaps the Vanguard could acquire the Enterprise someday!
The layoff of all the employees is sad. But the loss of Derrick Bang was personally shocking to me. Derrick has edited my garden column at the Enterprise for more than 10 years, and is an outstanding editor. He managed a dozen columnists and was responsible for the entire Spotlight section. This is a serious loss to the quality of the paper. Unfortunately, several of those columns won’t be continuing (mine will continue), and IMO the columnists are the star appeal of the Davis Enterprise. So while I understand the situation — anybody who follows media industry news realizes this is happening everywhere — I think this is a major blow to the content and quality of the paper.
“why would Debbie Davis blame Bob Dunning for this?”
She didn’t. She just relayed what happened. Ironic she is getting criticized for being too transparent.
(A) Not according to my information.
And (B) even if try, why blame your employee publicly?
Actually, in the Business Journal article the item about the ad contract is unattributed. The reporter doesn’t indicate who she got that info from.
“fallout from a column written by Bob Dunning”
What information do you have that would contradict this statement as being anything other than factual?
Does the Enterprise pay Rifkin?
“What information do you have that would contradict this statement as being anything other than factual? “
I cannot reveal the source of the information, but I believe it to be accurate and reliable. You will have to decide whether or not you trust my judgment.
“Does the Enterprise pay Rifkin?”
I believe they do, but not much.
“…Editor Blames Columnist For Loss of Ad Revenue” David, I can’t find this supported in the SBJ Sept. 27 article or, surprising enough, in your article here. Of course, one would think that our local paper would let us know about the layoffs and reasons before the SBJ and Vanguard report the story. But, I haven’t found anything in Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s, Thursday’s or Friday’s editions, or anything on-line as of this moment.
The lay off of Derrick Bang is a sad development for the Enterprise. Fortunately his film reviews will continue to appear in the paper, and on his blog, [url]http://derrickbang.blogspot.com[/url]