Thursday 18 December 2008

A casualty writes

An e-mail from one of the Sun Media layoff casualties:

"Please do not put my name or e-mail address on the blog as I am, for whatever reason, holding out hope that somehow this is just a bad dream. But I want to thank you for what you are doing.

"I have been a reporter for well over 10 years, or my entire adult life. I have worked nights and weekends at home to write additional stories that needed to be told. I have been nominated for various awards. I am also one of the recent casualties.

"I have been hesitant to make a judgment call in case it was coloured by my own newfound problems. But today, I've been talking to friends and family who are longtime subscribers to some of these papers and when they hear what's gone, they are also upset. Linda (Leatherdale) in particular has put a recognizable face on this. I told them to get letter writing.

The future of newspapers, many agree, is hyper-local content. They have gotten rid of many of the very people who provide this. Many of these people were not national bureau reporters who regularly attended parliamentary scrums. These were people who told every-day citizens when their taxes would increase, when their roads would be paved and when their local foundries were closing.

This loss is profound. Thank you for voicing that."

Thank you for your e-mail.

No comments:

Post a Comment