Tennessean cuts more than 90 jobs

Newsroom staff pared by 25 as parent Gannett eliminates more than 1,400 positions nationally [Updated 8:15 p.m. after statement from editors]

Email | Print By E. Thomas Wood

The Nashville Tennessean (as it was then known) announcing its debut in 1907

[Article updated 8:15 p.m. Wednesday]

Playing its part in one of the most dramatic mass layoffs in the history of the American news media, The Tennessean has eliminated 92 jobs yesterday and today, laying off 25 newsroom employees and opting not to fill four editorial staff vacancies.

The cuts at the Nashville daily are among more than 1,400 that have come to light in the past 48 hours among Gannett Co. properties, as the nation's largest newspaper chain seeks to regain its financial footing amid advertising shortfalls and punishing stock declines.

The Tennessean posted a news item about the job eliminations on its website late today. It stated that 67 total layoffs have taken place and that a further 25 open positions would go unfilled.

Bob Faricy, vice president of market development for The Tennessean, earlier today gave a figure of about 70 total layoffs and 20 to 25 in the newsroom. He said the figures for overall and newsroom layoffs apply to all Gannett-owned news operations in Middle Tennessee except Murfreesboro's Daily News Journal and the Leaf-Chronicle of Clarksville. No news was immediately available on any cutbacks at those papers.

The total workforce of The Tennessean is about 1,140, according to Faricy.

The paper has offered severance and health insurance packages to the discharged employees based on their tenure. Among the veteran journalists affected were Davidson A.M. Editor Carol Stuart (who had been with the paper more than 15 years), copy editor and food writer Dana Franklin, Williamson A.M. Community News Editor Susan Leathers and designer Leigh Singleton. Singleton had joined The Tennessean when the Nashville Banner folded in 1998.

A blog maintained by a former Gannett editor has carried continuous news updates all day from newspapers around the country. Its tally of total job losses had topped 1,400 by 6 p.m. today. Deep cuts were happening at The Courier-Journal of Louisville, The Arizona Republic and several other major papers.

One former senior-level Banner editor spoke for many journalists and ex-journalists who have watched the news transpire on the blog today.

"I felt like I was watching a fatal auto accident happening again and again," he said. "Grimmer than grim."