Layoffs are hitting Village Voice Media papers this week.
Management specified that the lay-offs would be chain-wide and blamed the struggling economy, according to one fired reporter.
Yesterday, The Dallas Observer eliminated its full-time sportswriting position the laid-off Richie Whitt wrote. SF Weekly laid off its web editor, the editor of its SFoodie blog, a calendar editor and a reporter, according to SFappeal. In Minneapolis, City Pages cut a third of its staff writer positions, laying off its food writer and leaving a reporting position unfilled, according to MinnPost.
Village Voice Media brass dictated which positions should be cut, MinnPost writes, but its hard to discern any pattern from outside. They also hear of a 5% cutback chain-wide.
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I am glad that the VV is going out of business. Last year they had the most antisemitic article about those nasty Jewish landlords in NYC. (singling out the Jewish landlords only). I told them that the article was Nazi like and will be the nail on their coffin of the Voice, especially after their despicable attack on the late Pope John Paul earlier. I wished them quick demise as a newspaper, and my wish is coming true.
Thank you for wishing me and my colleagues out of a job.
When you are a purveyor of hate you deserve to shut down, and the VV was the most hate filled rag in NYC. I wish they were a decent paper (which they once were) but why would your editor allow a Nazi like attack that singled out Jewish landlords, or a vicious and horrible slam on a great Pope?
Naro: I don’t know, I don’t work in NYC, haven’t read the stories in question, and didn’t work with anybody who did. You just go ahead and keep on rooting for people to lose their jobs and celebrating when they do.
No guilt. Good writers will find a place. I’ve been in the business for 35 years and know the ups and downs. Economics have played hell with our business. I beleive in the written word and that it will survive as a means of communication. However, bad writing will also find its own level. Critics have their place in keeping us honest
In other news, the Observer apparently can’t afford a copy editor to check that your online copy is properly punctuated.