THIRTY-SIX
Tom stood at a whiteboard in the center of the newsroom, surrounded by the entire staff.
“As you can see,” he said, pointing at the charts and graphs on the whiteboards, “circulation is going down and costs are going up. Unless we can fix it, we’re gonna have to make some adjustments around here.” He paused. “Which brings me to buyouts.”
A murmur of disapproval rippled through the crowd.
“Just hear me out, okay? Buyouts are better than layoffs, right?”
Freddie’s face hardened as he stood by his desk in the back of the room. As far as he was concerned, buyouts were little better than layoffs. In either case, you were out the door. And that was the last thing Freddie wanted. Especially now, when he had hold of a story that any reporter would kill for.
‘I just don’t want you
