On the very day that America was celebrating the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Clear Channel was putting a new spin on hope and change: we hope you find a new job because it’s time to change things around here.
In what has to be one of the sneakiest and most craven PR moves in history, the media giant sought to cloak word of its Tuesday layoffs in the blanket of inaugural news coverage. Maybe nobody told them about the internet.
Was it just a coincidence? No, there’s a more appropriate word to describe what they did than coincidence: that word is stupid. Clear Channel could have slashed 9% of its workforce on any day; doing it on Tuesday just reinforced the popular belief that they are evil and ruthless. That they are the company that brings you Obama lovers like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity just adds to the effect.
Nobody blames Clear Channel for cutting jobs. This is not the old days when owning radio stations was like having a printing press that spits out $100 bills all day long. Nope. This is about someone sneaking out through the back door of the theatre while everyone is watching what’s up on stage.
I notice you didn’t get on this high horse when WNYT was canning people left and right
I wasn’t knocking Clear Channel for its layoffs, I was suggesting that they were underhanded in their approach —but thanks for writing anyway.