The Daily News is now undergoing what employees of the tabloid have been fearing for weeks: Multiple insiders tell Capital that layoffs have hit the newsroom today.
Several sources put the total number of pink slips at around 15.
Two high-profile bylines we've confirmed to be among the laid-off Newsers so far are columnists Albor Ruiz and Joanna Molloy, both longtime veterans of the paper. Ruiz will continue to freelance for the News, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The news of Molloy's termination was particularly shocking. She's arguably the most famous writer still at the paper, having helmed its gossip pages for 15 years with her husband, George Rush, who took a buyout in 2010.
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Sources said other names on the list include reporters Christina Boyle and Robert Gearty and editorial writers Stephen McFarland and Alexander Nazaryan, who also writes the paper's books blog.
Those who are affected are being told that the headcount reduction is a result of a "restructuring" at the paper with an emphasis on digital, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.
The News has been ramping up its digital operation this past year in a bid to capture national advertising dollars and grow its online reader base outside of New York. Two weeks ago, in a sign of its web ambitions, two major promotions were announced under digital editor Ted Young, a Mail Online alumnus imported last year by Myler, a fellow Brit.
Myler characterized the promotions in a memo as part of a "general restructuring of our digital and business development operation."
The News is the fifth most widely-read newspaper in the U.S., although its combined print and digital average weekday circulation slipped 11 percent year-over-year to 516,165 during the six-month period between October and March, according to data released last week by the Alliance for Audited Media.
The Daily News is unreadable these days.
Colin Myler has made it into absolute dreck.
It's all bikini photos of celebrities and sensationalized crime stories.
No wonder the average weekday circulation is down 11%.
Heckuva job, Colin.
Zuckerman is going to come to regret that you didn't go to jail for your hacking cover-up crimes.
I've been considering a switch to Newsday. The Daily News is not only sleazy, but engages in constant teacher bashing and pro fracking editorial policies. It rarely displays news in its headlines, but does display scantily clad unimportant females and vapid, annoying gossip. It's shocking just how much this once-respected afternoon daily has deteriorated, along with the rest of the industry.
ReplyDeleteThe scantily clad female quotient has really increased since former Murdoch employee Colin Myler took the helm. I guess they thought turning the Daily News into the Daily Mail would increase traffic and ad sales. Ironically, the Daily Mail is doing better in America than the Daily News. Serves the bastards right..
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