Block Closes 'Blade' and 'Post-Gazette' D.C. Bureau

By: Joe Strupp The Washington, D.C. bureau that serves the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, is closing after nearly 80 years in operation, according to John R. Block, publisher of the Post-Gazette and an executive with Block Communications Inc., which owns both papers.

The closing, announced to employees Friday, will mean layoffs for four of the bureau's five staffers, while the fifth will be relocated to work exclusively out of Capitol Hill, according to Bureau Chief Ann McFeatters, who has run the bureau for six years.

"It was a surprise," said McFeatters, who has covered Washington since 1972, previously writing for Scripps-Howard News Service. "We have not been told when [the bureau is officially closing], but we will continue to do our jobs."

When asked to react to the news of the closing, McFeatters said, "What do you think I think of it?" She speculated that the closing would occur within the next few weeks.

Block said the layoffs are the result of cost-cutting measures that also included the departure of longtime Post-Gazette cartoonist Tim Menees and an undisclosed number of other Post-Gazette staffers. "I cannot say how much further they are," Block said about the layoffs, but added that none would occur at the Toledo paper. "There are a few people who have not been notified."

Block said the Washington bureau dates back to 1927 when the National Press Building, where it is located, first opened. "We will do the best we can," he said about covering Washington without the bureau. "I hope to re-open a Washington bureau sometime, but the conditions of the newspaper business stink right now."

Noting that other newspaper companies, from The New York Times Company to Knight Ridder, have also been cutting jobs in the past year, Block said his papers were actually late to the layoff game. "We have tried to hold this paper as long as we could," he said.

Post-Gazette Editor David Shribman did not immediately return calls seeking comment Monday, while Blade Executive Editor Ron Royhab declined to comment this morning. Menees, who is one of two cartoonists at the Post-Gazette, also couldn't be reached for comment.

The Tribune-Review of Pittsburgh reported that the Post-Gazette and 10 unions representing about 1,100 of its workers were to begin talks today on new contracts.