Add Mike McCune, a longtime editorial writer, to the list.
So here’s what I have so far:
Adele Angle, Beth Hamilton, Ann Marie Somma, Judy Prato, Mark Pazniokas, Jesse Hamilton, Bill Nagler, Marge Ruschau, Joe O’Brien, Jr., Steve Grant, David Wakefield, Robin Stansbury, John Ferraro, Loretta Waldman, Nancy Lastrina, Matt Eagan, David Funkhouser, Kate Farrish, Owen Walker.
This is 20, if my count is right. I fear there are a few more from photo and the copy desk I have not confirmed.
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To all my newly laid-off friends at the Courant, my heart is with you after this Mardi Gras massacre…I’m stunned by the list of wonderful employees shown the door, and saddened…My husband, an editor, writer lost his job as a financial editor in Manhattan. So we truly know the panic you must be feeling now…There is life after layoffs, freelance opportunities, etc…and help from the feds for COBRA subsidies, extended unemployment etc….but it is a tough go….So sad to see the Courant disintergrate before our eyes…the longest continuing published paper in the nation….maybe it’s time for another revolution…..
Dear Alum:
I’m shocked and saddened to see this list of very talented people being shown the door. It has been painful to watch the nation’s oldest continually published Pulitizer-Prize winning daily disintegrate before our very eyes. What a sad day for the readers in this state, who deserve better.
To all you alumns who are newly unemployed, there is life after the Courant, freelance, teaching…but it’s a slog. (My husband, also a journalist, lost his editing job in Manhattan in the fall, we understand panic!)There is help from the feds via the stimulus package like subsidies for COBRA health benefits, extended unemployment benefits….But for the newspaper industry itself? There are ideas out there, maybe there needs to be a new revolution, news ways to present the news to Hartford readers, should the Courant still only be the only game in town in this digital age?
Here’s a fun game you’ll all enjoy: Read the Courant’s news story below and find the sentence that has BOTH a copy-editing error (omitted word) and a factual error by inference. Now, are we surprised??
Courant Cutting About 100 Jobs
The Hartford Courant
7:14 PM EST, February 25, 2009
The Hartford Courant is eliminating about 100 jobs this week, mostly by layoffs, as the longtime slide in advertising revenues gains speed in 2009.
The cuts include about 30 writing, editing and news support positions, bringing the news staff to 135 — down from 235 at the start of 2008. With the layoffs, the newspaper will no longer have a reporter assigned to Washington, D.C.
Most employees affected are being notified this week, said Stephen D. Carver, publisher and chief executive officer. The layoffs are mostly at The Courant but also at subsidiaries New Mass Media, which comprises the chain of Advocate weeklies, and Valu Mail, the direct-mail business owned by The Courant.
Chicago-based Tribune Co. is operating under bankruptcy protection as a result the media company’s $13 billion in debt, most of which Tribune took on late in 2007 when it became a private business. Tribune had a series of layoffs in 2008, but the current round of cuts at The Courant was forced by business conditions here, Carver said, rather than the bankruptcy.
Company-wide, Tribune Co. is in a wage freeze announced to employees earlier this month. Wage freezes and layoffs are hitting the newspaper industry hard nationwide in 2009, as retailers, auto dealers, financial services firms and other traditional advertisers slash their media budgets.
News space in the Courant, which was cut back by 25 percent last summer in a redesign, will remain as it is, Carver said. The Courant remains the largest news organization covering Connecticut.
“I wanted to get us into an environment where we could focus on our readers and advertisers going forward, and focus on growing the business,” Carver said. “We’re going to perform at the level we’ve been performing.”
The latest:
Adele Angle (copy desk)
David Wakefield (copy desk)
Steve Grant (fea)
Robin Stansbury Erickson (fea)
Mark Paziokas (nws)
Jesse Hamilton (nws)
Elizabeth Hamilton (nws)
Nancy Lastrina (nws)
Anne Maria Somma (nws)
Loretta Waldman (nws)
Judy Prato (nws)
David Funkhouser (nws)
Bill Nagler (nws)
Owen Walker (lib)
Mike McCune (edit)
David Grewe (pho)
Lamont in photo lab
Marge Ruschau (copy desk)
Ted Funsten (copy desk)
Bill Healy (copy desk)
Steve Wilder (copy desk)
Jack Atzinger (copy desk)
Matt Eagan (spts)
Bob Campbell (spts)
Voluntary Departures
John Ferraro (nws)
Kate Farrish (nws)
Bob MacDonnell (pho)
Joe O’Brien (nws) — note: after joe was told he would have to go back to reporting,
he called cliff and said he would rather take a voluntary departure, after which
jesse leavenworth, who was laid off, was asked back.
Check out this “unique” take on the Courant crisis, at:
http://iblogwesthartford.blogspot.com/2009/02/west-hartford-blog-denies-bankruptcy.html
I’ve really been taken with the heartfelt comments that have been posted here and elsewhere over the past day. Now, on the morning after, I can’t help but wonder about some things. (I’m sure I speak for many others when I raise these questions.)
1) How long will it be before the Courant ships more editing to Chicago?
2) How long will it be before the Courant drops its seven-day publication cycle?
3) How long will it be before the Courant has its next round of cuts? It’s been only seven months since the last round.
4) Will Tribune ever be forced to sell the Courant? (One can dream.)
I can only second the comments. it makes me incredibly sad to see what is happening to and at the courant. bet it even makes courant haters wish the old gray lady was back on broad street. you all are in my thoughts and prayers. we must do all we can to keep folks aware of any job possibilities AND hope someone takes over the HC to bring it back to some semblance of its previous glory.
Sorry, I don’t buy that Cliff is a great guy and compassionate because he called people on the phone. Other editors from LA and Baltimore have fallen on their sword before they would oversee this kind of destruction. I believe the Courant managers are out to save themselves and only themselves. When did they ever stand up for their staff? I never saw it. Just look at the wisdom of Steve Carver who has the audacity to say the coverage won’t change. I think Steve, and Cliff, and all those other editors will continue to live well, while the rest of the former journalists are left to fend for themselves. Shame on the Courant management for not standing up and saying enough is enough,
My heart goes out to all those who lost their positions at the Courant. I lost my job there 2 years ago. I know your pain.
I’m stunned by this list. Just stunned. Just looking at the names makes me sad. They are not just my former colleagues; many of them I called my friends. It’s a difficult road ahead for them in this economy. Let’s offer all the support and advice we can give them.
Hey Robert, it’s me, Janet Hladky. I hate you because you’re in Florida!
We need a complete list of all the jobs – pressmen, page layout, prepress, IT support, security – all the people it takes to get a paper paper out.