By: Joe Strupp The Baltimore Sun officially reported Thursday its cutback of 61 staffers this week, including some 18 top and mid-level editors. The paper described the move as a reorganization its parent company said would help it "not just survive but succeed in one of the worst economic downturns in decades."
The story cited parent company Tribune filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December as among the signs of economic problems.
The report said the cutbacks hit "nearly every type of job in the 205-person newsroom, including top editors, news photographers, critics, columnists, sports reporters, copy editors, page designers and graphic artists, according to The Newspaper Guild, which was notified of the union-represented layoffs."
One news reporter volunteered to be laid off, the story said. Most employees were notified Wednesday, with others laid off late Tuesday.??
The moves were made as the company is restructuring the Baltimore Sun's newsroom, Renee Mutchnik, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Sun Media Group, told the paper.?
"We're going to become a 24-hour, local news-gathering media company so we can more effectively gather content and distribute it among our different platforms: print, online and mobile," Mutchnik said. "As everyone knows, more and more readers are moving online, and advertisers are following them. This is our plan for success, not just survival."??
Mutchnik and Editor Monty Cook have failed to respond to numerous E&P requests this week for information.
"It's stunning, just the breadth of them across the board," Angie Kuhl, the Sun's unit chairwoman for the Guild, told the paper. She said some 40 guild members were laid off Wednesday.
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