Years ago, when I went to work for UPI in Saint Louis, my in-service training consisted of a demonstration of how to operate the teleprinter. Most of the time an operator would be available; but on Sundays, and also on Saturday and Monday nights, it was up to me to do everything myself.
I know this about the AP because in recent weeks I’ve been speaking to AP staffers who went through the training and swear by it. The bad news is the reason for these conversations: last November the AP laid off John Dowling, its director of training.
His letter to colleagues began:
I got word this afternoon that my job has been eliminated, effective today.
How’s that for a wire-service lead? Very tight and direct, no attribution required. Writing with authority!
I will leave it to others to explain what the future holds for training at AP.
“This action has had considerable impact on employee morale, already damaged by short-staffing, major contract give-backs and the loss of so many of our talented peers.
Sometimes writing is murky because it’s meant to be. The one thing Bruce made clear was that the AP is in flux and will do whatever it thinks it has to. That would include letting HR run training from New York, which staffers suppose would probably save the company a few dollars at a time when every dollar’s precious. “We’re rubbing nickels together at this point,” says one of the AP’s national writers. “It sucks across the board.”
