Sources are telling Louisville.com that 36 employees have been laid off at the Louisville Courier Journal, in what seems to be a nationwide two percent staff reduction by the Courier's parent company Gannett.
Sources tell Louisville.com that some of the cuts are coming from the the weekly Velocity publication and Neighborhoods section. At this point, our sources have told us that among those laid off were:
- Joseph Lord, Velocity Staff Writer
- Thomas Nord, Velocity Editor
- Erin Keane, Velocity Staff Writer
- Lisa Hornung, MetroMix Editor
Updated June 21, 2011 8:15 p.m. by Zach Everson
Rick Redding at LouisvilleKY.com (it's like this site, but water soluble) has his own list. It's kinda like our list, but kinda not:
- Bettye Baye, editorial writer, columnist
- Rick McDonough, assistant suburban editor
- Niki King, Neighborhoods reporter
- Melissa Poore, Neighborhoods reporter
- Tom Nord, Velocity editor
- Lisa Hornung, Velocity
- Sheryl Edelen, Neighborhoods
- Tiffany Meredith, Metro editor
He also heard that David Dailey, Lifestyles editor, resigned today.
And from restaurant writer Marty Rosen's Facebook profile:
Gannett is eliminating an entire cohort of talented, energetic young journalists (people who started at Velocity and whose work has brought a vibrant new perspective to arts/culture coverage in Metro Louisville), as well as a number of veterans whose work has had a major impact on the city for years. A devastating day not just for those losing their positions, but for the entire community.
Updated June 21, 2011 8:42 p.m. by Zach Everson
The Courier-Journal (or what's left of it) speaks. Fifty employees, not 36 as we reported, were laid off. The executive summary:
- "24 were laid off from the newsroom."
- "Velocity will be integrated into the main newspaper,"
- "About half the staff assigned to Neighborhoods, was laid off. Neighborhoods, which currently publishes 12 weekly editions based on geography, will continue but possibly with fewer zones."
- "[C-J publisher Arnold] Garson said 98 percent of the free Velocity tabloids were picked up from racks each week." (My eyes tell me differently though.)
Updated June 22, 2011 8:59 a.m. by Zach Everson
From Gabe Bullard at WFPL (a site that posts a lot of articles each day too, only it begs for money twice a year so it has full-time writers):
- "With the cuts to Velocity, most, but not all, of the Courier-Journal arts writing staff has been eliminated."
- "The Neighborhoods section will continue to be published, but it’s not clear how often."
- "The Indiana State House Bureau has been eliminated entirely."
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
