Anticipation is building among employees of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who have been invited to a meeting for all employees of the company on Thursday, Feb. 10, at 11:30 a.m. at the Bradley Center.
After all, the last time such a meeting was held, the company announced it was pursuing an initial public offering.
Some employees immediately speculated that Thursday’s meeting could bring bad news at a very challenging time for daily newspapers.
By all indications, however, employees will not receive ominous news this time.
“They (company officials) are telegraphing that they’re going to be rolling out the new ad campaign for the company,” said one member of the Milwaukee Local 51 of The Newspaper Guild, representing the employees of the Journal Sentinel. “So, the news is not going to be bad, which is nice, because we’ve had plenty of that. At least, that’s what we’ve been told.”
The company’s notice to employees also indicates that Journal Sentinel publisher Elizabeth (Betsy) Brenner also will give a recap on the “state of the company.”
When contacted about the meeting by BizTimes today, Brenner put an immediate end to any speculation that Thursday’s meeting could bring bad news for the company or its employees.
“We’re running TV commercials in the market … TV and radio spots. That’s it,” Brenner said, adding that the Journal Sentinel hired a local company to produce the ad campaign. “We’re very excited. They’re great, great spots.”
Brenner said the company wanted its employees to see the commercials first before they began airing for the general public on Friday.
The fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report of the parent company, Journal Communications Inc., is scheduled to be released before the opening of the stock market Thursday. A conference call with analysts is scheduled for 10 a.m. (CDT) Thursday, to be followed by the employee meeting at the Bradley Center.
