Author Topic: Houston Chronicle's Mark Carreau loses his job (Read 22399 times)

Chris Bergin · « **on:** 03/25/2009 03:15 pm »

Personally never spoken to him, so no idea if he knows us or the site, but this is sad news, especially considering he writes for the local JSC paper. I'm sure we'd all like to wish him all the best.

You get an idea of how the guy was liked by NASA, this actually came via a memo sent out to the entire SSP via PAO:

Subject: SPECIAL NOTE: Houston Chronicle layoffs...

Note from Kyle Herring:

Mark Carreau - space-beat reporter for the Chroncle for more than 20 years - was caught in this latest personnel reduction. He has been an institution around JSC, KSC and other centers as a fair, balanced reporter covering the space business. He is no different than those of us who work on this side of the fence - he enjoyed what he was doing because he enjoyed the subject. He will be missed.

Chronicle laying off 12% of employees

Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle is laying off approximately 12 percent of its employees in an effort to reduce costs amid unprecedented change in the newspaper industry, Chronicle Publisher and President Jack Sweeney announced Tuesday.

“As our newspaper continues to report the condition of the economy, we read about companies in all business categories adjusting their size to match current and projected revenues,” Sweeney wrote to Chronicle employees. “The Houston Chronicle must do the same in spite of your diligent efforts.”

The layoffs include about 90 people in the Chronicle newsroom.

The newsroom will be restructured, but the core mission of providing strong watchdog journalism, aggressive online coverage and reflecting the diversity of the Houston area will remain, Editor Jeff Cohen said.

“One thing will not change: our mission as journalists to inform, educate and entertain the readers of our newspaper and Web site,” Cohen wrote in a memo to the newsroom.

“We’ll continue to do that with a remaining staff of talented journalists that numbers well more than all of our major local competitors combined.”

The Chronicle will be providing severance packages, which include two weeks of pay for each year of service up to one year’s pay, and career transition services to employees affected by this week’s layoffs.

stockman · « **Reply #1 on:** 03/25/2009 03:20 pm »

Another in a trend of getting rid of science journalists (specifically to Space but probably happening across various fields). I can think of some tabloid journalists who would be better to let go but then again, I look at life throught the glasses of Reason and Fact... not sensationalism and fiction... sad news yet again

LostInSpace · « **Reply #2 on:** 03/25/2009 04:08 pm »

Looks like his last article was on the 23rd. Since then chron.com is posting very brief Marcia Dunn AP articles. Houston has lost it's touch? I'm just astonished that the Chronicle, located in the Space City no longer has a personal touch. Losing Mr. Carreau at this crucial time in the space program will be significant. He understood the local AND national AND international impacts of space policy changes that are looming in the near future. That cannot be replaced.

psloss · « **Reply #3 on:** 03/25/2009 04:26 pm »

Always surprising to see something like this, even if it probably shouldn't be that surprising given the current conditions.

rsnellenberger · « **Reply #4 on:** 03/25/2009 04:38 pm »

Not for nothing is the paper known locally as "The Houston Comical"...

Hope that someone else snaps him up (maybe AP could use a good space reporter?) -- he always asked good questions at the press conferences....

brahmanknight · « **Reply #5 on:** 03/25/2009 04:52 pm »

Like others have said, shocking, but not shocking considering the newspaper industry.

kraisee · « **Reply #6 on:** 03/25/2009 07:13 pm »

Mark was one of only a precious few good reporters in this business. It is a loss for the whole community IMHO. I hope he can manage to successfully establish himself as an independent, the same as Miles O'Brien is doing.

But this whole situation isn't a real surprise to me. The newspaper business has been heading for deep trouble long enough that I bet their lobbyists are trying to get a government bailout!

As far as the larger press and public are concerned, the space program is "back to boring routine" ever since STS-107.

Added to that, within the next two years they figure that NASA is planning to stop launching things for at least 5 more years. I can understand them getting rid of staff in that situation.

Ross.

rsnellenberger · « **Reply #7 on:** 03/25/2009 08:15 pm »

Quote from: kraisee on 03/25/2009 07:13 pm

The newspaper business has been heading for deep trouble long enough that I bet their lobbyists are trying to get a government bailout!

Senators Cardin and Mikulski have already submitted S.673 ("Newspaper Revitalization Act") to allow newspapers to claim tax-exempt status as non-profit organizations.

Quote

Cardin’s Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Article at http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE52N67F20090324

robertross · « **Reply #8 on:** 03/25/2009 08:42 pm »

Very upsetting. I'll certainly miss his name called out at the MSB.

Will miss you Mark, you had great questions & reporting.

Bubbinski · « **Reply #9 on:** 03/25/2009 11:42 pm »

Newspapers (and the rest of the mainstream media) are going downhill fast IMO. The papers have really lost their allure for me and this is one of the reasons why, space coverage gets short shrift and when it is covered it's with a sensational biased slant. (Exhibit A - coverage of "drinking in the astronaut corps" - some of the headlines were just awful).

I'm so glad there are sites like NSF.com and Spaceflightnow.com to fill in the gap. Hoping Mark can land on his feet.

robertross · « **Reply #10 on:** 03/26/2009 12:58 am »

Quote from: Bubbinski on 03/25/2009 11:42 pm

I'm so glad there are sites like NSF.com and Spaceflightnow.com to fill in the gap. Hoping Mark can land on his feet.

Not to add guilt or self-conscience onto all this, but WE are also part of the problem. This site gives us that information first-hand, sometimes before the reporters (of course Chris, our reporter, keeps his job...).

SO many inevitabilities. Some good, some bad. Seeing good people and good workers lose their jobs diminishes us all, but we have to look beyond all this, find the good in it, and move forward. In this case, it will be pay-per-view news online. That's a reality.

That's my philosophical moment of the day (oh wait, second).

rdale · « **Reply #11 on:** 03/26/2009 01:04 am »

Mark losing his job had NOTHING (nada, zero, zilch) with NSF or other space websites.

robertross · « **Reply #12 on:** 03/26/2009 01:45 am »

Quote from: rdale on 03/26/2009 01:04 am

Mark losing his job had NOTHING (nada, zero, zilch) with NSF or other space websites.

As per my statement:
"...it will be pay-per-view news online. That's a reality."

A little here, a little there. People get their news online & on TV now. The only way these news companies will survive, especially local news, is to go pay-per-view (or government subsidy). That's a reality.

We (NSF) did not cause his job loss. Of course not. We (news readers) now take our news from multiple sources, with greater breadth of reporting, than from just one news site. Our hunger for the instant-access, and free, news media is one of the root causes of the demise of newspapers.

I used to buy Spaceflight mags. Now I just skim them at the store. My bad, but now with instant access online, I am part of the problem.

rdale · « **Reply #13 on:** 03/26/2009 01:51 am »

Getting better information, faster, and cheaper, is not being part of the problem. Using that mentality we should get rid of cars because they put horseshoe makers out of business. The Model T was bad because assembly lines reduced the number of car workers. I disagree with that type of thinking. It's called progress.

News sites missed the boat with pay-per-view. Too late to get back on it now.

Here in the US, the government will not be subsidizing news agencies.

Lee Jay · « **Reply #14 on:** 03/26/2009 01:59 am »

I used to subscribe to two newspapers and five magazines. Now I subscribe to zero of each. The reason is NOT on-line sites like this one, it's because I kept catching them reporting gross errors of fact, and seeming to do so intentionally in order to sensationalize the story. If I can't trust the information I'm getting, it's not worth anything.

Chris doesn't do that, and even publishes his sources (albeit on L2), so his information is trustworthy, and you can check it out for yourself if you like (and many of us do). There are precious few sources of journalism of that sort, on a consistent basis, across general news subjects.

For me, main stream journalism has committed suicide in order to attract customers. I haven't seen a mainstream news report, in print or on TV, in around six years.

dwmzmm · « **Reply #15 on:** 03/26/2009 02:11 am »

Sad news and a big surprise (for me); I've always enjoyed reading Mark's articles
on the space program. He WILL be sorely missed. Mark, hope you can get on board with us here at NASASpaceflight.com and share your insights.....

ChrisC · « **Reply #16 on:** 03/26/2009 02:27 am »

Damn it!

I just met him two weeks ago at KSC and thanked him for his reliable presence at the briefings and his always good questions (although it's funny how he always frames them in "I'm just confused"

). He did seem concerned about cutbacks -- in space/science coverage, at other orgs; he didn't mention the Chronicle.

Damn damn damn. Well, I hope someone picks him up, like they did Craig from AWST.

Blackstar · « **Reply #17 on:** 03/26/2009 02:51 am »

The newspapers are in freefall right now. They made some bad business decisions and they're paying for it.

But don't for a second think that this is a good thing. What you may not realize is that outside of the mainstream media, there is very little actual news reporting going on--much of what you read on the net is derived, cribbed, stolen, or influenced by the big news collectors and reporters. They have the big bucks to pay people to go to places and cover stories. As they die out, their stories will disappear, and the rest of the net is going to lose sources of information. They will become dependent upon the government to provide the information. Think that's a good thing?

I'm seeing this directly with the Washington Post, which has really chopped back the paper a lot in the past year and is eliminating its business section. Now some idealogues can crow because they think that the Post is part of the "MSM" and liberal and they want to see it punished. But a couple of years ago the Post did a big story about the appalling conditions at Walter Reed Veterans' Hospital. This resulted in several generals and the Secretary of the Army getting fired, and the situation cleaned up. If you think that veterans returning from Iraq deserve the best medical care they can get, then you value publications like the Post for helping to fix a problem that the U.S. Army did not care about.

NASA is similar and different. Without a profitable mainstream publication paying reporters to cover a beat, the only news reporting you will eventually see about NASA is what the agency wants you to see. That's not necessarily a good thing. A strong press can help keep government agencies honest.

rgedaly · « **Reply #18 on:** 03/27/2009 10:45 am »

The Chronicle may be facing hard economic times, but Mark's layoff was an incredibly shortsighted move. As I've said in other blogs ... in a city where space is local news, the Chronicle has essentially eaten its seed corn. I have no doubt that Mark will be quickly snapped up by another news organization.

dwmzmm · « **Reply #19 on:** 03/27/2009 01:22 pm »

Quote from: rgedaly on 03/27/2009 10:45 am

The Chronicle may be facing hard economic times, but Mark's layoff was an incredibly shortsighted move. As I've said in other blogs ... in a city where space is local news, the Chronicle has essentially eaten its seed corn. I have no doubt that Mark will be quickly snapped up by another news organization.

Same thing I was thinking; I'd like to see him with a highly rated local news station, like ABC 13 here in Houston. That station use to have a
science reporter (I think his name was Steven Gavan, or something like
that) who was really good in this area, but died some years ago in a
van crash after reporting on a story north of Houston. Had the chance
to meet him once at the Houston International Festival where Channel
13 had a booth, with some of their anchors/reporters were on hand to
sign autographs and/or answer questions.