The Wisconsin State Journal on Oct. 31 parted ways with two veteran journalists in the latest round of downsizing of the already bare-bones staff at the newspaper, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
Photo editor Steve Apps and assistant city editor and Beer Baron columnist Chris Drosner confirmed to Isthmus they are no longer employed at the newspaper. Both declined to comment further, citing the terms of their separation agreements. However, Drosner says there’s an agreement in place to continue his beer column in the newspaper, and that he will “proudly remain WSJbeerbaron on Twitter and [beer social media app] Untappd.”
In a statement on his Facebook page, Apps reflected on his more than 30-year career as a staff newspaper photographer. “It was a great trip, with stops at the Wausau Daily Herald; the Sarasota Herald-Tribune; the [Appleton] Post-Crescent; and the last 20 years at the Wisconsin State Journal,” he wrote. “My job there came to an end [Oct. 31] as newspapers like the WSJ continue to try to find their way in a tough newspaper climate. I have nothing but great things to say about the State Journal and have been honored to work with an outstanding group of editors and journalists these last 20-plus years.”
State Journal editor John Smalley did not respond to a voicemail request for comment, and an email yielded an auto-reply saying Smalley is out of the office through Nov. 8. Attempts to reach publisher John Humenik were also unsuccessful. But a State Journal employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the layoffs were not voluntary and that they struck a major blow to employee morale — which was already low.
“Morale has not been in a good place over the last year,” the employee says. “There have been a number of people who have left the paper that [management] just haven’t been replacing. And when you take two guys like Chris and Steve — who were popular in the newsroom, and well-respected, who had a ton of experience and worked well with others — it just makes things all the more difficult.”
The employee says the State Journal newsroom has shrunk significantly over the past year due to attrition. Recent voluntary departures include suburbs reporter Jeff Glaze, business reporter Larry Avila and religion reporter Doug Erickson — whose positions have not been filled. Sources also revealed that Nico Savidge, who covers higher education, is leaving the paper voluntarily later this month. Mark Sommerhauser, who currently covers the state Capitol along with Molly Beck and Matthew DeFour, will be covering Savidge's old beat in addition to continuing to cover politics, according to a Nov. 7 tweet.
There have been other recent departures on the features and copy desks, where duties have been spread among the remaining employees. In a major 2015 shakeup, the paper laid off columnist Doug Moe, sports writers Andy Baggot and Dennis Semrau and reporter and sports copy editor Brandon Storlie. “You’re seeing a very good newsroom just steadily shrinking, and there’s not a feeling that things are getting better,” the employee says. “Frankly, it feels like things are getting worse.”
But while the reporting team has been shrinking, the company has added to its executive ranks. On Aug. 4, John Blais started as general manager of Capital Newspapers, which publishes the State Journal and The Capital Times. Blais’ position is new at the company, and when he was hired, employees were told that he was brought on to ease the workload of Humenik, who has the additional role of vice president of news for Lee Enterprises, the parent company that owns Capital Newspapers. Blais’ hiring came as a surprise to some employees, who were reportedly dissatisfied with the explanation that management provided in justifying the new position. “I’d imagine [Blais] is getting paid more than either of the folks they just laid off,” the employee says. “When you look at how they’re letting the staff wither and then adding executives, it’s hard to reconcile. It doesn’t make us a better newspaper.”
Lee Enterprises, the fourth-largest newspaper group in the country, embarked on an aggressive series of acquisitions in the early 2000s, racking up $1 billion in debt and filing for bankruptcy in 2011. In recent years the company has achieved debt reduction through aggressively cutting costs — and people. A 2013 report from financial analysis website Seeking Alpha describes the approach as “burning the furniture to heat the house,” noting that since 2010 Lee Enterprises reduced its headcount from 6,304 people to 4,678, a decline of 26 percent. The report continues: “If you're wondering how this is possible, it's not from getting people to work smarter or harder. Firing 26 percent of the workforce was made possible by the company's decision to shrink its newspapers … The end result of firing so much of its staff is that [Lee] now produces a substantially less robust product than it previously did.”
Lee Enterprises executives have been known to take six-figure bonuses as rewards for successful debt reduction and restructuring. In 2014, Lee’s executive compensation committee gave CEO Mary Junck a $700,000 bonus, and CFO Carl Schmidt received $400,000.
In a late-morning meeting on Oct. 31, Smalley spoke about the layoffs with employees who reportedly “aired a lot of frustration” about how the cuts are crippling the paper’s news gathering efforts and affecting the quality and breadth of coverage. “There’s definitely a lot of concern that we’re losing coverage in some really important areas,” the employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity says. “We’re sort of having to parachute in when [news happens] and we don’t have a dedicated person on the beat.”
Humenik was reportedly not at the State Journal headquarters on Oct. 31 when the layoffs were announced, and he has not talked to staff about the situation. “He has shown no leadership,” the employee says.
In addition to cutting staff and shrinking coverage, management has also asked reporters to keep an eye on expenses like mileage. “It sends a message that you don’t want to give people the tools to do their job,” the employee says. “[Smalley] is in a hard position — and I don’t think anyone thinks he enjoys this — but there’s concern that there’s not a response to the things that are wrong in the newsroom. And when you look at where morale is, and how low it’s gotten, to some extent the buck has got to stop.”
Dee Hall, a former State Journal reporter who is now the managing editor of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, which she co-founded, mourned the layoffs as a loss for the paper — and for readers. “This is a trend that affects newsrooms across the country,” Hall says, noting that the State Journal got rid of its full-time investigative reporting position more than a decade ago. “There is no doubt that a shrinking newsroom has less time and money to do deep investigations.”
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect Mark Sommerhauser's position.
