The Virginian-Pilot Produces a Breakthrough Investigation Amid Layoffs

By: Corey Hutchins | CJR

Last month, The Virginian-Pilot announced it was laying off 32 employees, knocking its newsroom back by about a quarter. The cuts would be the deepest the paper has suffered since 2008 and will leave the newsroom “at less than half of its size in 2007,” when it had almost 250 staffers.

So it’s been a bittersweet time at the 140-year-old paper in Norfolk, VA, as its newsroom celebrates the clear impact of a recent major investigation that’s rocked city hall and a big bank on Virginia Beach.