Another small Southern paper gutted

Hell came to our shop today. The Vicksburg Post, a 12K-daily in Mississippi, had somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 people laid off (not sure of the exact number since they were doing them over the course of two days). Newsroom casualties included a photographer, a part-time copy editor and two production people. Two of the five news editors had already given their two weeks notice and a third left two weeks ago.

Paper was family owned for 130 years. Boone bought it on May 1. Two weeks later, a third of the workforce is gone.
This week has sucked.

 

Five news editors for a 12K?

 

Might not have been the proper terminology. The five includes a very hands-on ME and two who mostly did some of the miscellaneous pages -- schools, religion, entertainment, weddings, obits, things like that -- while also working the occasional weekend news shift.
We might have been a bit overstaffed in that area. Our former owner was very good to us, often to his own detriment.

In any event, a lot of good people got the axe this week. I know it's not as big a deal as other, bigger shops, but it still sucks. I needed to pour out a digital 40 for my fallen comrades.

 

Happens at all sizes of publications. Some have speculated that in 10 years, all that will remain will be major metros and small county weeklies/bi-weeklies. Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

So sorry to hear about the cuts in Vicksburg. Its a good down and a good paper. Well it was a good paper before May 1.

 

Yeah, sounds like a hell of a down.

 

Vicksburg bought me drinks once...

 

150 years after Grant laid siege to the town, some carpetbagger lays siege to the paper.
Sorry to hear it. Best of luck.

 

I called it a down Riptool because I've been down losing at the casino. It's an inside joke. Sorry, you're not in the loop.

 

You're an idiot.

 

Sounds like a good down in which to get your ass kicked.

 

You don't even lie well, Drippy.
But you shit all over yourself like a pro.