Layoffs Hit Newspapers In Florida

The Tampa Bay Times has laid off 11 journalists, the newsroom’s executive editor said in a note to the staff on Wednesday.

Three additional positions, held by people who are planning to leave the Times, also will be eliminated, the paper reports.

Last month, citing a tough start to the year financially, the Times announced that employees across the company would see a 10 percent pay cut for 13 weeks. That announcement said staffing reductions also were likely.

The layoffs were not related to advertising losses caused by shutdowns from the coronavirus, Executive Editor Mark Katches said in the note. The impact of that is “too soon to tell,” he said.

“We all have seen how the financial challenges facing our industry have directly impacted us, our friends and our colleagues,” Katches wrote. “This has been yet another painful reminder, but we keep moving forward. Our readers and our community need us now more than ever.”

Also in Florida, the Orlando Weekly announced Wednesday that it will lay off 13 staffers and issue pay cuts to remaining employees, citing that a majority of its advertisers have been hit hard by the call for social-distancing.

The Orlando Sentinel reports an article posted to its website and signed “with love and gratitude, Your Orlando Weekly Team" said the cuts were made across departments, including editorial, sales and circulation, and that the Weekly hopes to eventually “bring back” the laid-off employees. It’s unclear at this point how many staffers from the paper’s newsroom were affected.

“We are a free publication and website, and virtually 100 percent of Orlando Weekly’s revenue is dependent on our community’s ability to gather in public — in restaurants, bars, theaters, museums, and at events and festivals,” the article states. “Since a majority of our advertisers are ceasing operations as quarantine measures go into effect, we simply don’t have a path forward with our full staff and revenues so severely compromised.”

Orlando Weekly’s parent company, Euclid Media Group, simultaneously announced layoffs at its six other publications: Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, the San Antonio Current, the Detroit Metro Times, the Cincinnati City Beat, The Riverfront Times in St. Louis and the Cleveland Scene. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay reported that severance was not being offered to the employees let go.