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.