Tribune Co. Lays Off 21 Newsroom Managers;
Gives Notice to 40 Guild-Represented Editorial Workers

(May 1) After firing 21 senior editors and managers at the Baltimore Sun on April 28 – many of whom were ushered out of the Sun building by security guards – Tribune Co. distributed 40 layoff notices to Guild-represented employees on April 29.

"It appears that Tribune management is bent on gutting what was once one of America's great newspapers," said Cet Parks, executive director of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild.

"Tribune, through careless management practices, has saddled itself under $13 billion in debt and now Baltimore is paying a price," Parks said. "Tribune is siphoning good jobs from Baltimore and sending work that talented editors, reporters, photographers, copy editors and designers have done here to its home base in Chicago. That is not right."

Tribune plans to lay off the 40 newsroom employees by May 27. Targeted employees include four columnists, as well as photographers, critics and copy editors, all of whom received hand-delivered letters April 29. The letters were signed by
Monty Cook, senior vice president and editor.  

Earlier in April, the Sun laid off seven employees in other departments, including advertising and customer service.

With the pending layoffs, the newsroom staff will have been cut by more than 60 percent since Tribune acquired The Sun in 1999, when it had approximately 420 editorial employees.  

"While we understand that media companies, especially newspapers, are reeling from declining advertising revenue, shrinking circulation and a year-and-a-half of recession, we believe Baltimore needs a metropolitan paper that covers the important events in the region," said Angela Kuhl, the Sun Guild unit's chairperson."It is imperative that Baltimore
maintains a newspaper that brings people news, exciting and provocative stories and enriches the lives of all who live here."