Arizona Republic Layoff List of the Month: Positions Slashed From Web, Copy Desk, Design Staff and More

By Ray Stern Thu., Jul. 9 2009 at 10:25 AM

Categories: Media, Schmedia

Here's our leaked list of news-side people let go in the current round of Arizona Republic layoffs, which are part of a nationwide Gannett reduction:

Laura McBride, Jennifer Johnson, Dave Lumia, Ralph Zubiate, Heather Wells [copy editor], Jeremie Lederman, Bobby Boos, Theresa Cano, David Proffitt [City Life editor], Jenny Poon, Marcia Hammond, Nicki Escudero [amp.az content manager], John Davis, Jerry McElfresh, Mark Watters, Christine Keith, Ed Perkins, Jana Aguirre, Laura Jablonski [online ad director].

As in previous posts like this, we acknowledge the unofficial nature of this information, which comes from deep within the bowels of the Republic's headquarters. If any names are incorrect [or you know of any to add], please feel free to write in.

Tweets on the subject can be found, for those so inclined, by searching for "#azrlayoffs" on twitter.com.

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arizona republic, gannett, layoffs

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I just would like to thanks for the blog. Like it. Thanks Losing a husband can be hard. In my case it was almost impossible.
Hey, thanks for giving Google one more variable to attach to my name.... My best to all my fellow staffers and republic alumni. Thanks Jacy for fixing my name. usually it's misspelled but still masculine...
As sorry as we are to hear about these layoffs, it is helpful for many of us to know the names of the affected newsroom staffers. I'm a PR person, and it's very difficult to navigate changing beats after layoffs. At least this will help many of us figure out whether we need to research alternate contacts for news pitches.
I love the Arizona Republic. It is a great place to be employed.
The paper should feel ashamed for how it's treating employees who have been there for ages. The severance package is crap, especially compared to those laid off in the past. Gannett has no loyalty to anybody but the shareholders. Good thing is that they'll all eventually be screwed too when the place falls apart on them. Greed has killed the republic as a voice in this community, and it will kill those who never understood the role of a strong newspaper. Cancel your subscriptions. It's not worth it anymore.
Dave Proffitt is a fine journalist, and more important; a nice guy. i wish him the best.
Richard, One more thing you overlooked in your bashing of the PBJ: Neither Lovely nor Zidich returned calls from the AP seeking comment about the recent layoffs.
Richard, Let's make sure you have the facts right ... the PBJ eliminated three positions in May. No idea where you got six layoffs. Also, one of the PBJ's high-level staffers did confirm the information for a Rep reporter.
I read someplace that the paper was going to lay off 7 percent of newsroom today. Is that true?
Anonymous @ 2:42PM said: I'm wondering why you feel the need to publish the names of these people. Honestly, I'm ok with it. We were all hard workers and these are unfortunate times. I would be more disturbed if I were gone and no one ever took notice. I am grateful to the many colleagues who wished me well. Thanks, everyone.
Francine: Unfortunately, even today, interactive advertising can't capture the kinds of dollars commanded by print. Even if all the print dailies tank, I'm not sure that there will be an online parasite coming along to (profitably) eat the table scraps. The only guy who seems to have figured things out halfway well, is Craig Newmark. When he cashes in as the big winner in media, it will be for a small fraction of the former total worth of the industry. But he'll be the one guy left standing with the biggest piece of pie. He recognizes that for a single human being to get all of the pie, he must first whittle the pie down to size so he can digest it. And in order to do that, he must make it undigestible for all others that oppose him. In other words, he has to take the industry down with a python-like squeeze before he can own it. And he will own it. Actually, eBay owns 25% of it. They'll sit pretty as well. Eventually, a surviving media empire will pay him/them just to make him (and craigslist) go away.
I think I will give my name instead of posting anonymously:-) As a senior (in years) PR person, I spent a lot of time criticizing the Republic over the years. That doesn't mean I like to see the decline of print journalism, but it is happening. AzCentral was such a groundbreaking effort in its time, and I can't understand why it wasn't expanded, continued, and built upon. Oh wait-- yes I do.
If you're going to print names like that, please try to fact check them and these people's titles. It's Jenny Poon Domingo, not Dominguez. RS: I'll just go with Jenny Poon -- that's how her name reads on the Press Club winner's list. My apologies to Jenny.
Not only are the layoffs bad, but wait until you hear about the severance package program - oh excuse me, it is now called "transitional pay" - is comprised of. What a way to let people go, so sad after many of these people have been there for so many years. AND it is funny that is was all the former azcentral.com staffers that got the boot - Ed, Bobby, Nicki, Theresa. They are the staff who helped build azcentral.com to the site is had become up until two years ago when online and newsroom combined. You'd think because digital is the future they would have wanted to keep those staffers who had the most online experience.
TommyC: It's never a good thing to publicize your availability via a layoff story. In today's f'd-up job climate, employers often look for many reasons NOT to bring a new candidate in the door. Why taint a potential job search 10 years from now with data that makes people wonder why they were not considered invaluable to the organization? I thought it through because I've personally SEEN the HR people come in with the google dirt they'd collected on candidates I'd interviewed and liked. The experience has prepared me to give my kids some serious lectures on how to handle myspace and facebook, and to keep their online exposure very low.
Having just left The Arizona Republic for a new job in Chicago, it's sad to see these great people let go. I knew several of these people really well, and a few of them from being in the newsroom. I feel for them, their families and the rest of the AZ Republic crew. My thoughts go out to all of you. Good luck!
"Anonymous said: I'm wondering why you feel the need to publish the names of these people." It could very well be that someone reading this blog may know one of the folks being laid off. It may be that one of us will have a lead for a job, or a job, and will contact one of those folks to see if (s)he is interested. You seem to be seeing this as a glass half empty situation, and in many cases it may be the break the person has been wanting to make but hasn't had the courage to do so. Maybe you could take some time to think this through before you throw a pity party, eh Anonymous?
Do they still employ that wench that writes about the nightclub happenings? What a complete waste of ink and money.
There is no Jamie Lederman, just Jeremie... who was our illustrator. Mark Watters was our senior graphic artist.
I'm wondering why you feel the need to publish the names of these people. Does the misfortune of your journalistic rivals appeal to you? Perhaps you are not realizing that these ships are going under in the context of a larger vortex that you might not yet be able to see. Your own ship could easily be next. I can "maybe" see you taking pot-shots at who you might believe are jornalistic sellouts, but why publicize the misfortune of a staffer that lays out the pages? As if they didn;t have enough to worry about. Now the permanent google cache gives their next potential employer a big "hmmm?" to consider as they seek a new job. RS: SORRY, BUT INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW...
This is bad for The Republic and the metro area. It's never good when the watchdogs are laid off, regardless of how you feel about the paper. All of these people are hard workers and good at their craft. That said, there is plenty of dead weight at the paper, and many of us are agitated that "Randy's Girls" (and editor Randy Lovely himself) survived. He surrounds himself with people who make him comfortable, not people who make the paper better. Phoenix loses. Again.
Speaking of Business Journal, why can they report day after day about layoffs, yet when they layed off two editorial, six total, believe it was May, Don Henninger or American Cities corporate office refused to return phone calls to the media. They stonewalled it, ignoring their obligation to the public and the Canons of Journalism. So why are they still in business operating with a "public be damned" attitude when it comes to the Business Journal's business?
There are so many more. 150+ I'm told. The Business Journal article headline says "20" but that is just newsroom. Very misleading.
No worries. I wish this story didn't exist over and over again.
Wow...the economy is really hurting you guys. I hate to hear that. I work at a <a href="http://www.stopaddiction.com/index.php/Metro/Phoenix-Area-Drug-Rehab/index.html" rel="nofollow">www.stopaddiction.com</a> and this job is like none other. I don't think that I will ever be out of a job. There are so many people to take care of. If anyone who got the axe is reading this then we always need more people to help out where I work.
The Business Journal story you referenced was from last year in regards to a previous round of layoffs. If you want the current Business Journal story from today, go here... <a href="http://bit.ly/6I85w" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/6I85w</a> RS: RIGHT YOU ARE -- HOW EMBARRASSING. I REMOVED THE REFERENCE. THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW.
No E.J. Montini?...lol
PBJ story is from December. Not the current round.