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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2003-02-21
San Francisco Examiner lays off most of staff
By Brad Mangin, SportsShooter.com
Photo by Ben Margot/Associated Press
San Francisco Examiner chief photographer Dino Vournas leaves the Fang Warfield building with his belongings Friday, Feb. 21, 2003, in San Francisco. The publishers of the daily San Francisco Examiner laid off Vournas and most of the staff Friday.
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The publishers of the daily San Francisco Examiner laid off most of the newspaper's staff this afternoon (Friday, February 21, 2003). They plan on continuing to publish the paper in some form or another beginning on Monday, February 24, 2003.
Directly affected by this news is Chief Photographer and SportsShooter.com member Dino Vournas. Vournas was one of about 40 employees laid off after an afternoon staff meeting and was forced to clean out his desk and leave the building.
"I had a good run the last few years...we got to see baseball and football playoffs, a World Series, the Super Bowl..." said Vournas while visiting some friends at the Associated Press bureau in San Francisco.
Also involved in the shakeup this afternoon is staff photographer and SportsShooter.com member Jeff Chiu. Chiu, who was off today, is unsure of his status and has been told to report to work on Sunday for a staff meeting.
"I think it sucks...I'm not worried about me, but there are a lot of reporters who are now out of work," said Chiu.
The Fang family took control of the paper from the Hearst Corp. in November 2000, in a deal that helped Hearst gain antitrust approval of its $660 million purchase of the much-larger San Francisco Chronicle.
This deal provided the Fang family with a $66.7 million subsidy from New York-based Hearst, spread over three years. The agreement was broken into three payments of $16.7 million the first year, and up to $25 million in the next two years.
The Examiner announced its plan to stop charging 25 cents per copy and switch to free distribution at news racks and stores around San Francisco as about 40 people were handed their pink slips
Vournas, who came to the Fang-run Examiner during it's inception in November 2000 after a 30-year run at the Alameda Newspaper Group (Oakland Tribune) will now have plenty of time off to enjoy some skiing.
"I can't complain about what I got to do the last two plus years...it was fun to get in on the ground floor of something like the Examiner when we launched the paper. They handed me $35,000 worth of new digital equipment when they hired me, something that no one has ever done for me...and they gave me a company car," said Vournas.
"I'd like to take some time off and clean my house," added Vournas, who has 35 years worth of photographs and negatives scattered about his Hayward, Calif. house.
Chiu, a 1999 graduate of San Jose State,was hired by Vournas to fill a staff photographer opening at the Examiner in July 2002 after finishing up a two-year temporary staff position at the San Francisco Chronicle.
"Dino was a lot of fun to work with...he's very laid back and a very good photographer. I wouldn't have this job if it weren't for Dino," said Chiu.
The laid off employees were given their last week's paycheck and told to return Monday to learn more about severance packages. The average severance package will be about eight days of pay.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report. Special thanks to San Francisco AP Photo Editor Stephanie Mullen for allowing SportsShooter.com to publish staffer Ben Margot's picture of Dino Vournas.)
Related Links:
Dino Vournas' member page
Jeff Chiu's member page
Examiner Press Release
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