Chris Spencer, county government reporter for the Morning News in Springdale, confirms to me his earlier Twitter that he’d been laid off today. I’d just begun following his reports, also an entertaining food blog he apparently did just for fun. At least five others — a photographer, a department editor, a sports reporter and two page designers — have also lost jobs, according to a paper staff member. More to come as staffers were called in early for work today. Rusty Turner, the newspaper’s editor, said the layoffs will total nine in the news department, but he otherwise couldn’t comment beyond coverage in the newspaper’s own story.
The newspaper has posted a report on its website. The initial posting lead with news about a “change in standard format” — a euphemism for a reduction in the number of sections produced each day.
People were mentioned in the second paragraph, but no numbers were given about reductions said to have occurred across all newspaper departments. This was to be updated to reflect the nine newsroom layoffs, Turner said.
My source puts the number affected companywide anywhere from 11 to 20. Employees werecalled in one by one to learn of their dismissal or about a “limited furlough program” for newsroom employees. Copy desk hands were added to the list of six I mentioned earlier. One employee reported hearing of pay cuts for some long-time employees.
The word from inside is that some are receiving severance and a limited continuation of health coverage (federal law requires that all are able to continue health insurance at their own expense).
Said a former employee: “There was a great deal of weeping and cussing while I was there today. … Some folks even showed up to work with boxes — even before they were given the official axe.”
It was another unhappy day for another group of newspaper people and the people who read their work. All of us have been buffeted by declining ad sales, some also by declines in circulation revenue.
UPDATE II: On the jump, the memo to staff from managing editor Lisa Thompson.