Monday, August 17, 2015

C&EN layoffs and chemical employment coverage

Within the bounds of respectfulness and privacy, I want to comment further (and briefly) on C&EN's recent layoff of eight production staff and reporters.

With today's issue, the Chemical and Engineering News masthead no longer has Sophie Rovner or Susan Ainsworth's names. This represents 67% of C&EN's reporters covering what I tend to call #chemjobs issues, with the third being the excellent, indefatigable Linda Wang. They have been doing a fantastic job covering the negative effects of the Great Recession on the ACS' member chemists.

I do not understand why this choice was made, but regardless of the reason, the effect is the same.

I sincerely hope that C&EN will continue to cover chemical employment issues with the same quality and quantity as they have before.

Best wishes to Susan and Sophie, C&EN and to all of us. 

13 comments:

  1. "I do not understand why this choice was made" - but isn't it glaringly obvious? ACS *doesn't care* about employment issues in the slightest. The entire thing is a facade to have a monster highly-profitable publishing house that gets massive tax breaks. I've always (semi-jokingly) thought that, but this makes it definitive.

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    1. Well, of course not. The ACS has always cared about making the industry happy - look at where the elected officers come from - and keeping wages low by maintaining the myth of too few scientists active so they can import cheap ones is important. I'm surprised one of them survived the cut.

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  2. But now we can use "special chemistry emojis" to communicate how we feel about it.

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  3. On the face of it, it is puzzling how a non-profit organization can fire a significant portion of its journalist staff, while maintaining a $ 800,000/year salary for CEO Thomas M. Connelly, with similar amounts going yet other non-elected management people.

    On the other hand, what have we, as ACS members, done to set the tone for our organization in this regard? It is hardly realistic to expect those at the top of the pyramid to have any interest working towards real change, themselves. If we have no gumption to take control of our organization, then this unfortunate outcome is really no surprise. And we are just a bunch of intangible ghosts, who haunt the internet.

    Boo!

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    1. You're words in the second paragraph can easily apply to our elected officials at the federal level.

      This is what happens when your government no longer reflects the needs of its constituents, and is concerned about the wealth of itself.

      Two things are needed.

      1.) A new organization of Chemists which is truely an non-profit organization, with no ties at all to some profiyable business, like publishing.

      2.) Have the ACS declared for profit, and watch it Twist, Twist Slowly, in the Wind.

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    2. Oh great, another organization to take our money and ignore us. I assume #3 is to get the unions involved, since they're notoriously fair, unbiased and always working for their members best interest. Just ask them!

      I assume there's some bylaws in ACS already that would allow a disruption in the status quo, much like 'activist shareholders' that have a minority position in a company but make a big enough noise that they can elect someone to the board or otherwise influence the direction the ship is taking.

      Maybe the first step is just using the tools we already have in hand.

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  4. Hi NMH,

    I agree 100% with your goals, so far. But as my real-life alter ego has pointed out to the ACS presidential candidates (cc-ed to CJ and others), having lofty goals without (a) a plan and (b) us taking personal accountability ***off of the internet,*** nothing will happen. I have made recommendations of a plan to both presidential candidates, which has resulted in a productive dialog with Brian Balazs; Allison Campbell has not yet responded (perhaps because of the conference?)

    Why don't you write to the candidates, using your ***real*** names, to express your **specific** recommendations of a plan to achieve your goals?

    For the moment, today, I will point out that some comments have recently appeared elsewhere on this blog which address your aspirations. Hopefully my doing so will not result in any angry e-mails from CJ.

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  5. C&EN hires a Spaniard living in England as Editor in Chief. Visa status unknown. Subsequently fires 8+ american citizens.

    Sounds to me like ACS has been listening to what's been going on out here after all.

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    1. Hi Anon 9:19 AM,

      Well, why don't you write to the ACS, e.g. the presidential candidates about it, or start a petition?

      booo!

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    2. Yup, just like the tax and spent liberals who got a Kenyan elected President, the ACS is out to screw Americans. It's a well-known plot that started with FDR who introduced social security to weaken the resolve of Americans by providing a "comfortable" life after retirement. FDR did this because he hated Americans. Johnson was also in on the plot: his Great Society was a further step to disincentivize Americans from working. Nixon was in on it too: the EPA he signed into law has been one of the most destructive killers of American jobs in history, and for what? "Clean" air and water? I'll take asthma and burning rivers as long as I have a job! And don't even think about legislating a minimum wage---you know where they did that? Communist Russia, that's where! Think the Tehran embassy kidnapping was real? Nope, Carter planned because he hated Americans so much.

      Obviously you're smart enough to see how evil Obamacare is, so not point in saying that socialized medicine WILL BRING ABOUT THE DECLINE OF AMERICA! Just like social security, medicare, the EPA, and civil rights have. Thank God (the real one, not the false idols those other people worship) we have the GOP to protect us, though not sure how they dropped the ball in elected Nixon---clearly a pinko).

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    3. That's a long way to go for not much of a joke, there.

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    4. There's a fine art to satire, which is not in evidence here.

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  6. I think it's brilliant and very funny. But yea, in the words of the Donald, "you got to go"

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