I guess I should just let them break the news in their own words:
The Spokesman-Review will cut about one-fourth of its editorial staff this month, laying off as many as 27 employees in a move its publisher says is a reaction to economic conditions of the newspaper industry.
Steven A. Smith, who has been the newspaper’s editor for more than six years, is resigning as part of the reductions, which he called devastating to the news operation. The newsroom cuts will affect writers, editors, photographers and support staff.
Companywide, about 60 workers will be cut.
I’ve only been to Spokane a few times, but I have a special fondness for the Spokesman-Review. It was with the S-R’s Olympia correspondent Rich Roesler with whom I had my first political interview, and… well… you always remember your first time. It was Rich who first broke the story of my “Horse’s Ass” initiative, setting me on my accidental path toward political activism, and he’s always remained accessible ever since.
I was relieved to read on Rich’s blog that his name was not on that list of 27 newsroom staffers to get the axe, and that at least for now, his job appears safe. You know, for a reporter. I’d say he’s one of the best political reporters in the state, but given the circumstances I’m afraid that might come off as faint praise, considering he’s fast becoming one of the only political reporters in the state.
Meanwhile, I keep hearing rumors from Thurston County that the Olympian is considering some sort of merger with the Tacoma News Tribune, or perhaps ceasing operations entirely… though multiple contacts at the paper deny the rumor is anything more than that. Still, with what we’ve been seeing elsewhere in the industry, anything is possible.
Wonder what a state would be like without any newspapers?
It could get a lot worse for newspapers (and the journalists who work for them). As the economy weakens further, so will the ad revenues that keep the presses rolling.
The macroeconomic picture isn’t good. In fact, it’s frightening. Easy credit replaced wage growth as the primary source of consumer spending power. Now the credit landscape has been permanently transformed. Meanwhile, the wage situation continues to get deteriorate — fewer jobs, less job security, lower pay, fewer benefits. Couple that with rising inflation and it adds up to restrained consumer spending and a smaller economy for the foreseeable future.
And that means fewer advertisers buying print ads, more journalists losing their jobs, and maybe even some newspapers going under.
@1 It would look a lot like the Republican communities where nobody reads newspapers and everyone is ignorant about everything. You’ll end up with a country run by lying demagogues.
I live in Spokane and I can tell you the newspaper is awful. I canceled my subscription a long time ago.
I just can’t take “local” news seriously anymore. There are very few articles written by the newspaper itself. The people who actually subscribe to the newspaper find the coupons worth the subscription price, but don’t even read it.
The S-R started failing when they decided not to publish the majority of their stories online. They decided to charge a subscription fee to read online news. I don’t feel sorry for them at all – they should have adapted better to the times.
I used to look at the Spokesman Review website when I was going to Eastern, but they lost me when the other interests of the Cowles Family began to influence what the paper did, like the continued controversy over the River Park Square development.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....ane28.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ethru.html
I love to see journalists do investigative journalism, but it has to be at the arm’s length from interests owned by the paper.
http://www.inlander.com/parkin.....779539.php
This newspaper sucks almost as bad as the Seattle P-I aka TASS.
Leftist Media Bias is the root cause of the failure of print media.
Waaaaaay too many “Editorialists” masquerading as “Journalists”.
You know, Goldy, I have posted before about how KIRO needed to fire your ass … and they did.
Now I post this in an effort to help educate you and for you to grow the F up.
When I was young and stupid like you are today I was liberal. But when I had to lay off reporters, my good friends, because of economic strains of revenues versus expenses I grew the F up. I swore I would never again allow my naivite of managing a budget force me to lay off another reporter again. That’s when I realized I was a Republican and not a socialist. Real world managers need to deal with economics. Idealism like yours causes far more pain to average people because you have no real world understanding of economics. Grow up, Goldy! Learn about economics. You are so uneducated. You have a great mind, but it is programmed incorrectly.