Politics of failure

I've been chatting by e-mail with a journalist friend of mine about, among other things, layoffs that are happening at newspapers around the country. I mentioned the layoffs in Philly (at the Daily News and Inquirer), New York (the Times) and Boston (the Globe). She added Hartford, Conn. (the Courant -- layoffs that come less than a year after the last round of layoffs there) and the Baltimore Sun.

Add to that list the San Jose Mercury News, which is showing 56 guild workers the door -- and then pushing them through it.

Click here to read the grisly memos written to people who would lose their jobs by people who wouldn't.

Once again, the rank-and-file pay for the failures of executives and management. This isn't exclusive to newspapers, of course -- all of corporate America has embraced the "punish-someone-else" philosophy -- but it's something that you don't see in Japan. And it makes about as much sense as replacing your tires because you have a dead battery.

Makes you wonder how executives would fare as mechanics. But a more pertinent question might be how you would fare as a mechanic, because if you're working at a newspaper, sooner or later it's going to be you shoved out the door. Unless you're an executive, in which case you'll just have to feign remorse in a layoff memo about three or four times a year and maybe occasionally hide out in your office until the latest punishees have left the building for the last time. (You wouldn't want to endure a socially awkard moment or risk a confrontation with people who are wondering how they're going to feed their children or afford health insurance because of your failure, would you?)

But I'm not insensitive to the pressure on executives. In fact, I want to help them. So if you're an executive looking for a boilerplate for the requisite Remorse Clause to use in a layoff memo, I suggest this for your consideration:

In a memo to newsroom employees, editor Brian Toolan shouldered the blame for the layoffs, saying that Connecticut's largest newspaper had to reduce its payroll to meet financial goals.

"If you are disappointed in anyone, then be disappointed in me," Toolan wrote. "I thought I could keep layoffs from hitting the newsroom. I was wrong."

Of course, shouldering blame is a lot easier than shouldering consequences.