McClatchy D.C. Bureau (Somehow) Avoids Layoffs and Buyouts

By: Joe Strupp While McClatchy newspapers nationwide are suffering the company's second massive job reduction in three months, the chain's highly-praised Washington bureau has again survived the cutbacks without any layoffs or buyouts.

But that does not mean the D.C. bureau did not lose people, according to Bureau Chief John Walcott, who says the luck of attrition helped make the cuts less painful.

"It's easier as a manager to have people leave for their own reasons than to fire people," says Walcott. "But do we have as many people as we had two years ago? No. We have had a fair amount of attrition and that has taken care of it."

Some of the editors and publishers at the chain's 30 daily papers, meanwhile, say the latest round of cuts is not easy, but vow to push forward with the best journalism possible. "We are focused on doing the best we can," says Publisher Timothy Kelly of the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, which laid-off 22 employees, including nine in the newsroom. "It is just a very difficult day."

The reactions follow McClatchy's Tuesday revelation that it would cut 1,150 jobs companywide. That announcement followed a previous June decision to lop off 1,400 workers.

Walcott in D.C. says his newsroom missed the buyouts and layoffs, but still lost a handful of staff. While the bureau has 10 editors, it does not have a Washington Editor, the top newsroom post that was eliminated following the departure of David Westphal, who left in the spring to take a job at the University of Southern California.

"We are the only [McClatchy] place where the top guy has left and not been replaced," Walcott says.

In addition, the national reporting staff -- now at 14 -- lost two reporters in the past year, while the regional reporting staff will drop to 11 when David Montgomery returns to McClatchy's Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Although each regional reporter covers D.C. for specific McClatchy newspapers, their salary comes out of the D.C. budget.

Finally, the foreign staff has been reduced from eight to six with Cairo reporter Hannah Allam taking a year off for a Nieman Fellowship and Brazil-based correspondent Jack Chang returning to D.C.

"We fortunately have not had to lay off anyone," Walcott says. "Unfortunately, the people who have left are among the most experienced in the business. We are not exempt from the pressures the rest of the company is under to curtail spending."

Elsewhere in McClatchy, the fallout from this week's cuts continues, according to those in charge at the papers. Among the biggest reductions occurred at The Miami Herald, which sought to remove 250 jobs in June and announced another 119 cuts this week.

Executive Editor Anders Gyllenhaal says his newsroom cut 40 people in June and will lose another 23 in the latest round: "We still have a large newsroom and our job is to make the most of it," he told E&P. "It is not easy to take, it is the lot we are given. Nobody is happy about it, but I think everyone can see the business is contracting and we have to make money to have a solid future."

Publisher Pam Siddall at The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle had a similar outlook. After losing 12 people in June, her paper is now planning to cut 22 more, with six through layoffs. "We didn?t think we were going to be at this place six months ago," she said. "We have to be very proactive. This is not fun, but it is necessary."