Comments on: Steve Greenberg laid off from Ventura County Star

By: Milt Priggee

Milt Priggee — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:20:34 +0000

http://www.miltpriggee.com/index.php?pid=1&sid=2&fla=29

By: Mike Lester

Mike Lester — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:23:29 +0000

SG: I also want to add my condolences, best wishes and offer any freelance advice. Here’s tip one (in a series): invest in yourself i.e. advertise your skill set. It’s true: you have to spend $ to make $. (Bonus tip: don’t drink your profits.) Good luck.

By: Mike Lester

Mike Lester — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:48:53 +0000

I’m a little late on this latest firing but after reading the advice to Mr. Greenberg on how to “pick yourself up and start a freelance career”, I have a little experience in that world and here’s the reality:

If you want to be fired on a regular basis, start a freelance career.

By: Andy Stevens

Andy Stevens — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:52:34 +0000

Maybe there are a lot of jobs in jeopardy at the Star. Those dedicated folks who used to fill up street lights with oil have been unemployed for some time. Steve is a very talented cartoonist and probably a great employee, but aren’t newspaper sales plummeting due to the internet, or information super highway. There is a demographic that still likes reading the paper but they are getting old fast. As the advertising dollar shifts to online, so to must staffers find a place there. Good luck to all, including myself. Me thinks we will need it.

By: D.D.Degg

D.D.Degg — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:51:23 +0000

Steve Greenberg’s last cartoon as a staffer for The Ventura County Star (scroll down below his “Last Entry” post):
http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/greenberg/

By: Wiley Miller

Wiley Miller — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:52:52 +0000

“and that cartoonists are seen as a luxury. ”

It has always been thus. That’s why the staff cartoonist is so easily replaced with incredibly inexpensive syndicated cartoons. We love to blame the editors and publishers for all the jobs lost, but the fact is, it’s our own who are the real source of the problem.

By: Mike Peterson

Mike Peterson — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:28:34 +0000

I would suspect that there are some conference calls or email exchanges in which the various editors and publishers in the chain talk about some of the cuts they’ve made to meet corporate’s targets, and that cartoonists are seen as a luxury. And there is likely a corporate vp in charge of a group including a particular paper, who may say “So, why are you spending $50,000 a year on a guy who draws one picture a day? Would you spend that on a reporter who only filed one story a day? Or a photographer who only took one picture a day? Why don’t you use a syndicated cartoon in that slot?”

The editor who said, “No, we have to keep him. He has a lot of local identity for our paper — that ‘one cartoon a day’ is a critical part of our presence in this community” would get to keep him.

And if it were the only time he disagreed with the VP on something every other editor in the chain had caved in on, he’d even get to keep his job. Which would be crucial, because his replacement would not likely repeat the mistake.

By: Ted Dawson

Ted Dawson — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:11:45 +0000

You’re probably right, John. I would be interested in knowing if the decisions come down from corporate or are being made locally. I assume this is something the AAEC keeps tabs on or if not, it should.

By: Steve Greenberg

Steve Greenberg — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:50:06 +0000

I suspect John is right on the mark.

This makes two papers I’ve worked for that went from three artists to zero; my previous paper in Marin County (CA) went the same route, and a coworker there who went to Wiley’s old paper in Santa Rosa tells me they went from four artists to zero. Seems to be a trend. Odd how every newspaper is praying that the internet saves them, and yet they’re slashing the visual people they need for that. Among others.

By: John Cole

John Cole — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:15:41 +0000

“The Star didnâ€™t make the decision. Some suits in Ohio did.”

My bet is that the suits in Ohio gave the Star managers a number they had to meet and left the details for them to figure out.

But I could be wrong. It’s happened before.