Nov

11

Star laying off people at Sprint Speed

November 11, 2008 |

Sprint is no longer the only local company shedding jobs every three months, now that the Star appears to be in a death spiral. Bottom Line Communications has the latest list of 50 cuts, including some big names like cartoonist Lee Judge, gossip columnist Hearne Christopher, Jeff City reporter Kit Wagar, and editor Laura Scott.  Hearne will be OK, he can just apply to the Lawrence, KS newspaper, where most of his stories are located anyway.  The other cuts will hurt. The “paper of record” is beyond cutting fat, and now cutting into muscle and bone.  And it looks like the Star is still cutting almost exclusively from the rank and file, not management.  Soon they will have 1-1 manager-employee ratio.

The last time the newspaper was for sale there was a lot of worry that Gannett would buy it, and eventual buyer McLatchy was seen as a big relief.  But that isn’t working out so well.  The Star was one of the most profitable newspapers in the Knight-Ridder chain.  Some say it is still making a profit, but not enough for the new owners. These days, 18th and Grand is starting to look a lot like 119th and Lamaar.


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