Black Monday: Tronc Axes Half the New York Daily News Staff
It is capturing cynical headlines across the media landscape: Tronc, the widely trashed name for the media company formerly known as Tribune Publishing, has sacked half the staff of the New York Daily News. Tronc bought the tabloid in September 2017, reportedly for a single buck.
A memo sent to the paper’s staff, obtained by the New York Times, states: “We are reducing today the size of the editorial team by approximately 50 percent and refocusing much of our talent on breaking news—especially in areas of crime, civil justice, and public responsibility.”
The memo claims that the paper has not “gone far enough” in its effort to become a viable publication for the digital age, a movement that Tribune Publishing’s rebranding of itself as Tronc intended to embody.
Among Monday’s casualties is the paper’s now-former editor-in-chief Jim Rich, who Tweeted in the early hours of Monday morning: “If you hate democracy and think local governments should operate unchecked and in the dark, then today is a good day for you.”
The Times reports that Robert York will now take the helm at the embattled mainstay of New York publishing. York comes to the Daily News from a Tronc-owned paper based in Allentown, PA.
Joe Zappa is Street Fight’s managing editor. Follow him on Twitter @joe_zappa
