By Joel Thurtell
Lookit what came in my email today — a memo, ostensibly from Detroit Free Press Editor Paul Anger — notifying the staff of a staff position that’s been erased.
Which means, if this note is not a fabrication, that a human being has just lost a job.
Who will be next?
I started on November 12, 1984 and left with a buyout on November 30, 2007 (with a two-year-plus hiatus on strike in 1995-97) and I recall buyouts, reduction by attrition, lockouts and, following the purchase in 2005 by Gannett, firings for various bullshit reasons.
I don’t recall a lay off.
Until now.
Here’s the memo someone sent me:
Reductions to the Yak
Name: Paul Anger
Published on: January 5, 2009 05:35 PM
Yak’s Corner, most recently a half-page in the Wednesday Sports sections, will cease publication with its last issue on Jan. 21. Because of this, the part-time position of Yak assistant editor is being eliminated.
We will continue to maintain the Yak Web site and provide design help for the weekly NIE publication that goes to Detroit elementary schools.
— Paul Anger, Laura Varon Brown
Wow, the elimination of that part-time position must have saved a lot of money!