Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Gannett cuts -- coming to a paper near you

My former employer, Bloomberg News, adds to the latest on the woes of newspaperland with the tidbit that Gannett's latest round of cuts won't affect USA Today. Oh, goody! We can look forward to an even thinner local newspaper. All you worried hotel guests can breathe again. You'll still be getting the quality USA Today you've come to expect.

Just as a reminder, Gannett already cut 1,000 employees in August.

Here's what really stinks: there's no one else left to cover your local news.

Think about it. Gannett became the biggest newspaper publisher in the country by buying papers in small and mid-sized U.S. cities. I'm not saying how or why, but in many towns, the Gannett paper remained as the town's sole paper.

Now that Gannett is cutting back staff -- perhaps as many as 4,000 employees, including the earlier cuts -- what's left of your local paper? And will you want to read it?