Hearst lays off 119 more Rodale employees
THERE were 119 more pink slips flying at the old Rodale operation — both at its Emmaus, Pa., offices and in New York City — in recent days.
The biggest hit came in Rodale’s Midtown Manhattan offices, where 84 of the company’s 200 Big Apple employees got laid off, according to the state Labor Department.
The 116 survivors will be moving into the Hearst Tower by March 31, sources said.
On top of that, 35 Rodale employees in Emmaus were laid off, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor
Hearst had already whacked about 145 employees in Emmaus shortly after its Jan. 2 takeover.
Those earlier round of layoffs will be complete by March 10.
Hearst is said to be scouting locations in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley for a small operation that will remain near Rodale’s longtime home.
Hearst is about a month away from selecting a new site with a fall move-in date, sources said.
In total, Hearst has cut about 265 people since it snapped up Rodale in January for just under $220 million.
The displaced workers are getting severance from Hearst, which is said to be more generous than what former Rodale CEO Maria Rodale was offering during cuts spread out over the past few years.
Logo powwow
The LinkedIn-Meredith controversy has not been settled yet — but there could be a resolution by the end of the week. Meredith Chief Marketing Officer
Nancy Weber met with LinkedIn officials on Friday to discuss why all Time Inc. veterans, no matter how long ago they worked for the venerable publisher, had the Time Inc. logo next to their work history. switched to a Meredith logo.
The switcheroo irked former Time Inc. employees.
Meredith blamed LinkedIn for the surprise change. LinkedIn placed the blame on Meredith.
“LinkedIn is working on some solutions, both short-term and longterm,” said a Meredith spokesman.
Ripp tide
One of the more intriguing rumors about a potential sell-off of unwanted Meredith titles involves ex-Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp eyeing Fortune, Money and Fortune’s lucrative conference business.
Also believed to be lurking in the weeds is American Media Inc., helmed by President Trump cheerleader David Pecker.
Pecker, AMI’s chief executive, is said to covet titles including Time, Sports Illustrated and Entertainment Weekly.
Meredith, which is still evaluating the situation, has not said which titles, if any, it will sell.
“You should know I never comment on rumors,” said Ripp, when Media Ink bounced the rumor off him.
Ripp was the CEO who steered Time Inc. through its spinoff from Time Warner in 2014 but stepped down in September 2016 due to health concerns and turned the reins of the struggling company over to
Rich Battista, who ended up selling the company for $2.8 billion.
Ripp recently teamed up with one of his sons, Daniel, to form a Charlotte, NC, investment company, Cannondale Capital Investors.
“We are shopping for small familyowned businesses with less then $20 million of revenue in the Charlotte area,” he said.
Ripp’s other son, Brendan, now at National Geographic, is a former publisher of Fortune.
Min offered Times
Janice Min said that before Tronc Chairman Michael Ferro decided to sell the Los Angeles Times, he had approached her about the possibility of running the newsroom.
Min also said Ferro approached Todd Boehly, her boss at Eldridge Industries, owner of The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, about potentially buying the LA broadsheet,
“Ferro was on a charm offensive with major players in Hollywood,” said Min, speaking at Recode’s Code Media conference in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Tuesday, “And so our owners briefly looked at the Los Angeles Times. It’s a jewel.”
Min, a past editor of Us Weekly, is currently working on a consulting basis on deals with Eldridge after editing THR and Billboard.
Ultimately, Min withdrew her name for consideration because she felt the owner’s intention to create a national content network was ultimately muddled. The bigger issue, according to Min, was just how uncomfortable owners were with the LA Times newsroom.
“I think one of the things that was interesting to me is they were terrified of their newsroom,” she said. “They clearly didn’t want to interact with them.” LA-based biotech billionaire Pat
rick Soon-Shiong recently reached a deal to buy the paper from Tronc for $500 million. The deal has not closed yet, but the rebellious newsroom is hopeful.
“The mood in the newsroom is upbeat,” said
Matt Pierce, a reporter and a member of the NewsGuild union organizing committee. “[Soon-Shiong’s] letter to the newsroom hit all the right notes, especially his suggestion that he plans to invest in the newsroom. But naturally, people want to hear more about his plans.”