Blog Chronicles Newspaper Demise

A former Gannett employee began a blog about layoffs, buyouts, furloughs and other signs that the parent organization of the Courier News, Home News Tribune, Asbury Park Press and many other newspapers across the country is in danger of failing or sharply reducing its operations.

Over the past weeks, Gannett Blog has become my favorite link, because I know so many people affected by changes in the industry.

The blog has been and is currently serving as a source of advice on how to cope with these changes. Many of those affected by layoffs or buyouts are middle-aged and are now thrust into a job market wracked by fiscal disaster. So prospects are not good.

It's sad to think of so many talented people being forced to scramble for ways to cope in the new world of economic upset. I'm glad in a way that I have at least my pension and Social Security, for what it's worth, to get along with in this unprecedented world.

--Bernice Paglia