Post-Dispatch Lays Off 1, Eliminates 2 Other Openings

It's the end of an era at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as layoffs across parent company Lee Enterprises have claimed the job of the last employee remaining on the newspaper's library staff.

Once, even relatively small daily newspapers had operations to archive their work. Staffers knew they could visit the morgue (oh, that glorious newspaper lingo!) to research previous coverage. No more; we have the internet for that, and so passes another piece of 20th-century media history.

Staff photographer David Carson, who serves as vice president of the United Media Guild representing P-D staff, says the daily has also eliminated two open jobs: a metro reporter position and a staff photographer one. The daily saw some high-profile departures this summer (even though changes to the comics page drew wider notice); now some of those positions won't be filled.

As for the archivist, Carson says, "It was the only person left from our once robust library staff. They dealt with archive and performed lots of other tasks which had heaped upon them during previous layoffs. They were a hard working and loyal employee who was very well-liked in the newsroom and will be missed."

Carson says the layoff took place last Friday, and the staffer got two more weeks on payroll per the bargaining agreement. They'll also get full severance and any unused vacation time.

Jeff Gordon, the guild's president, says more job losses could be on the way. The paper has "at least two retirements on the horizon," he says, adding, "But, yes, more cuts are possible."

Last fall, Lee headed off a hostile takeover attempt from hedge fund Alden Global Capital. But falling advertising revenue and declining print circulation remain a serious concern in today's media market.

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