The local-newspaper giant GateHouse Media is making cuts across US newsrooms for a second time in 2019, following at least 60 layoffs in January and February and first-quarter losses.
Business Insider has confirmed more than 65 cuts in at least 22 local newsrooms in Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, and Massachusetts, with potentially more to come on Friday.
Editorial Cartoonist Nate Beeler on Twitter:
This afternoon I was laid off from The Columbus Dispatch after more than 7 years as the editorial cartoonist in Ohio’s capital city.
Editorial Cartoonist Rick McKee on Facebook:
After almost 30 years with the Chronicle – 21 of those as editorial cartoonist – I was let go today. It was my dream job and I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to do it for as long as I have. All you folks have been so great and supportive of me, even when I made you mad! My last day will be July 19, so you will still see cartoons from me for a while. After that, who knows what the future holds?
Another major blow for newspapers. GateHouse Media, one of the largest publishers in the U.S. with 156 daily newspapers and 328 weeklies, slashed jobs across the country Thursday. The official number is unknown, but it appears to be at least several dozen.
Mike Reed — CEO of GateHouse’s parent company, New Media Investment Group — told Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds, “We are doing a small restructuring — at least that’s what I would call it — that I’m sure will be misreported. We have 11,000 employees. This involves a couple of hundred.”
This cuts my (probably incomplete) list of U.S. staff newspaper editorial cartoonists to below 25.
I had Gatehouse with three staff cartoonists (from 156 dailies!):
Nate Beeler at the Columbus Dispatch,
Rick McKee at the Augusta Chronicle, and
Mark Streeter at the Savannah Morning News.
Two of the three are now going.
update: see comment below
Mark Streeter too
Nate Beeler was a blow not just because he was a great cartoonist, but because he was the co-host of the 2019 AAEC convention, and the Columbus Dispatch was a sponsor of the upcoming nationwide gathering.
Once again, Gatehouse proves they don’t have a clue how to run a paper — unless it is running it into the ground. Idiots.
Damn! Went looking for information about Mark’s status, but couldn’t find anything
Newspapers continue to cut the things that its readers want: comics, cartoonists and news reporters.
To let these two extraordinarily talented cartoonists go, Gatehouse is not only shooting themselves in the foot, they are shooting themselves in the head. And if the same is true for Mark Streeter, make that three exceptional cartoonists.
Unbelievable, but in this day and age not unexpected. Hell, the bean counters can’t even count the beans correctly.