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paola de varona

@pdvarona.bsky.social

senior editor, advice @ Slate. writing fiction and nonfiction around the web 🤠

24 Posts588 Follower131 Folgt
paola de varona@pdvarona.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We need your dating questions!! Unhinged is @slate.com 's advice column on the wild world of modern dating. Have a dating question you just can't figure out? Send it to us. It’s anonymous! forms.gle/WeoEtCdyLWgC...

Unhinged — Your Questions

Please enter your question for Steffi Cao on modern dating below. This form is anonymous. Please keep questions short, and don‘t submit the same question to multiple columns. Note that we are unable ...

forms.gle

Nitish Pahwa@nitishpahwa.com · last yr.

yesterday was a tough day for us. please send all love, support, and job opportunities to @methsaxon.bsky.social, @hashtagkatie.bsky.social, and @natalieshut.bsky.social, all of whom deserved so much better than this.

Slate Union@slateunion.bsky.social · last yr.

On Monday morning, Slate was suddenly informed that six of its employees—including three editors, two of whom were members of the union—were being laid off, just months after four other staffers were also let go. The Slate Union's official statement reads as follows:

The Slate Union logo—the Slate S featuring upward fist and surrounded by pink and white stripes—is seen above a statement: We, the Slate Union, are united in our belief that management’s decision yesterday to lay off three editorial employees—along with three of our coworkers in other departments—was misguided, foolish, and cruel. The cuts are not these employees’ failures; they are the result of the failure of this company to follow its obligations to its workers. When you can’t find a way to make the most out of smart, talented journalists, that’s a failure of management—and Slate staffers are right to believe it’s incumbent upon management to find ways to solve that problem that don’t involve job losses. Otherwise, what are we investing in journalism for? What are we asking Slate Plus members to invest in us for? There are particular aspects of these layoffs that we in the union find particularly outrageous. Eliminating three editors with their hands on politics and business will put an unbearable strain on others in the department, at the precise moment when coverage of these two subjects is crucial to the magazine’s success. One of the laid-off editors had union-negotiated parental leave approaching—as did another union member who was laid off just months ago. Another one of the laid-off employees was about to go on a honeymoon, and yet another was about to meet the qualifications for their pension benefit. The affected worker will be paid out for their parental leave, but the timing of these departures appears to be designed to make other union members think twice before utilizing the leave they have the contractual right to take. Not to mention, that one of the laid-off editors was hired not even a year ago—after a protracted search—calls management’s strategy into question, to put it lightly.
Slate Union@slateunion.bsky.social · last yr.

On Monday morning, Slate was suddenly informed that six of its employees—including three editors, two of whom were members of the union—were being laid off, just months after four other staffers were also let go. The Slate Union's official statement reads as follows:

The Slate Union logo—the Slate S featuring upward fist and surrounded by pink and white stripes—is seen above a statement: We, the Slate Union, are united in our belief that management’s decision yesterday to lay off three editorial employees—along with three of our coworkers in other departments—was misguided, foolish, and cruel. The cuts are not these employees’ failures; they are the result of the failure of this company to follow its obligations to its workers. When you can’t find a way to make the most out of smart, talented journalists, that’s a failure of management—and Slate staffers are right to believe it’s incumbent upon management to find ways to solve that problem that don’t involve job losses. Otherwise, what are we investing in journalism for? What are we asking Slate Plus members to invest in us for? There are particular aspects of these layoffs that we in the union find particularly outrageous. Eliminating three editors with their hands on politics and business will put an unbearable strain on others in the department, at the precise moment when coverage of these two subjects is crucial to the magazine’s success. One of the laid-off editors had union-negotiated parental leave approaching—as did another union member who was laid off just months ago. Another one of the laid-off employees was about to go on a honeymoon, and yet another was about to meet the qualifications for their pension benefit. The affected worker will be paid out for their parental leave, but the timing of these departures appears to be designed to make other union members think twice before utilizing the leave they have the contractual right to take. Not to mention, that one of the laid-off editors was hired not even a year ago—after a protracted search—calls management’s strategy into question, to put it lightly. Slate has had two consecutive years of profitability. The fact that management views employees as chits to be discarded at any hint of trouble, instead of valuable people whose work makes our shop successful and profitable, is an enormous mistake. We insist that, in the upcoming contract negotiations, Slate commits to policies that treat layoffs not as a hair-trigger response to adversity but as an absolute last resort, one that will not be undertaken without consulting with the union and the employees in question. Simply paying out extra severance to a laid-off employee should no longer be a substitute for warnings about the state of our business and, more importantly, real attempts to save our staffers’ jobs. Anything short of this will demonstrate that Slate values the jobs of its executives more than its rank-and-file workers, and that good journalism by good journalists is no longer the north star of the magazine.
paola de varona@pdvarona.bsky.social · 2y ago

Reading your words in @slate.bsky.social’s Dear Prudence is fun! Seriously, we could all use some levity right now—no question about life, relationships, or family is too low-stakes: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Dear Prudence Question Submission Form

Please enter your question on manners, morals, and more for Dear Prudence. This form is anonymous. Please keep questions short (ideally no more than 150 words), and don‘t submit the same question to ...

docs.google.com

paola de varona@pdvarona.bsky.social · 2y ago

Send us your questions about your boss or an annoying co-worker 🥸 For a forthcoming @slate.bsky.social advice column, we want to help you navigate your social dynamics at work. Ask us! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Work Advice Column Question Submission Form

Please enter your question below for Slate’s forthcoming work advice column. We’re especially interested in the social aspects of navigating the workplace—the knotty questions and dynamics that occur ...

docs.google.com

Katie Rayford@katierayford.bsky.social · 2y ago

In Oct 2023, a man opened fire at a bowling alley & bar in Maine. Right between the two locations, skipped over by the shooter, was Dalia Karim’s 7-Eleven For @slate.bsky.social, Maine native Jaed Coffin chronicles what happened to the store that night—and the next year: slate.com/business/202...

It Was One of 2023’s Most Unimaginable Crimes. The Year I Watched Unfold After Was Even Harder to Explain.

In a Maine town, one store was a lifeline—and right in the middle of the state's deadliest tragedy ever.

slate.com