Unfortunately the quality and quantity of your work doesn't matter any more, no rhyme nor reason to who gets ax'd. In the case of Zach at the Sentinel, his byline was everywhere in many sports from prep to pro. He built up a following in his chats and gave a shot in the arm to the blog...
He was a multimedia hire for Stephens a year ago but had been part-time for some time. Not sure where he's off too, but heard the Sentinel cut the position.