Thanks, now get out

I got this email today from a friend:

Found this at Sportsjournalists.com. It's a memo from Jim Moroney over at DMN to the staff. Had to share.

“The waters are choppy and the visibility is poor.” That’s how a ship’s captain might describe it. For us in business, we know the economy is wobbly and there is no expert who can tell us with certainty when it will stabilize.

So expect 2009 to be a very difficult year financially. Probably more difficult than 2008. Looking back, we went into 2008 with more optimism than was prudent. Perhaps we are going into 2009 with more pessimism than is necessary. Yet it is always far easier to deal with a bit of prosperity that comes your way than it is to react swiftly to unanticipated adversity.

Having said all that, we will make it through 2009. We will make it through because we believe what we do is important. And because we believe what we do is important, we work the extra hours, make the extra sacrifices and endure the extra hardships to be certain the enterprise continues to thrive.

We have area city councils facing important decisions regarding regional transportation. We have significant decisions to be made regarding the quality of our air and the availability of our water supply. We need our largest school district to succeed. The development of Southern Dallas must remain a top priority for everyone. Will the Texas legislature fund a public law school or a “Tier One” research university in our area? Who are the best leaders for our top statewide offices? These are just a few of the important issues of concern that will be discussed, debated and maybe even decided during 2009. These are but a few of the important issues that no local media organization can or will cover with the breadth, depth or expertise as will our company.

And then there are those without means and without power to redress wrongs. When they have no place left to turn, they turn to us. And we answer, thoroughly and more often than any other local media organization. Once again, this is why what we do is important.

You can work for many companies. And those companies can produce very fine products. Yet there are very few companies which operate for a profit that can state that a part of their mission is to improve the community in which it operates, to hold elected officials and public institutions accountable for their actions and to bring attention to the needs of the neediest in our society. And none of them have been granted a constitutional right to do what they do.

I could spend another few paragraphs extolling the many ways we help our business customers grow their businesses. We do it well and we do it every day. More on this in a subsequent communication. Everything we do — everything each one of you does — in every part of our company is important to the collective strength of our organization. I am asking all of you and each one of you to remember the important mission we have and to let this thought strengthen our resolve through 2009.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to work for such committed leadership and dedicated employees.

Jim

I wonder how many of those "dedicated employees" will be gone after the DMN's next round of cuts? At least we can rest assured that Jim's job is safe.