Is the Philadelphia Inquirer trying to push out older staffers?
At the Philadelphia Inquirer, “the sudden reassignment of this group of people, all of whom are of a certain age and have a certain length of service with the company, raises an eyebrow,” says the local guild president. “And we will monitor the new assignments and the situations, and the demands that are placed on these employees.”
Theater critic Howie Shapiro, initially reassigned to South Jersey, has taken the buyout and says that he understands the paper’s need to focus shrinking resources where readers demand. …
Shapiro, who says that he was enticed by the buyout rather than scared off by the reassignment, doesn’t think he was targeted because of his 64 years. Indeed, the theater critic position will be eliminated entirely.
* Reporters mull age bias complaint against Philadelphia Inquirer (citypaper.net)
* Oct. 1: Inquirer memo outlines coverage changes prompted by readership study (jimromenesko.com)
