Asheville News

Countdown continues as Asheville Citizen-Times employees await pink slips

Jason Sandford July 1, 2009

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

We’re just days away from finding out how the latest round of Gannett lay-offs will affect what was once the largest news-gathering operation in Western North Carolina — the Asheville Citizen-Times. Here’s the latest, from Editor & Publisher:

NEW YORK The Gannett Co. confirmed today that it will reduce its workforce within the next several days.

Gannett executives told told The New York Times’ Richard Perez-Pena that the McLean, Va.-based company is getting ready to issue another round of layoffs.

The company is preparing to lay off more than 1,000 employees as the largest newspaper publisher’s work force continues to shrink along with its advertising sales, AP reported last Tuesday.

Between 1,000 and 2,000 people will lose their jobs in Gannett’s latest round of cutbacks, according to a story published Tuesday on The Wall Street Journal’s Web site, cited by AP. The Journal quoted an unnamed person familiar with the McLean, Va.-based company’s thinking.

Here’s my take on how the lay-offs will play out locally. It also includes notice that the newspaper will be physically getting smaller in a couple of weeks.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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3 Comments

Anne-Marie July 1, 2009

This is really sad, and creates such a vicious cycle. Layoffs lead to less local coverage, which leads to less readers, which leads to less money, which leads to more layoffs…

Is there truly a reality where Asheville exists without a daily paper?

LovesAsheville – keeping my fingers crossed for you.

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LovesAsheville July 1, 2009

Very scary, especially if you still work here. Why can’t they just continue the furloughs?! Even though the paycheck sucks, we still have a job. What a convenient time for Dubow to go out on leave – I wouldn’t want to be visible when the #$%^ hits the fan either!

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lena July 1, 2009

scary

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