Thursday, November 19, 2009
AP lays off Roanoke bureau reporter
The news company plans to cut payroll expenses worldwide by 10 percent.
The latest from The Ticker blog
The Associated Press discharged an undisclosed number of news employees Tuesday, and their ranks included Sue Lindsey, a veteran journalist who has been the correspondent for the AP's Roanoke bureau since 2005.
Lindsey said she learned the news Wednesday, which also was her last day with the New York-based news organization.
"I was stunned," she said Wednesday evening.
Lindsey said she did not know what the AP intends to do with the Roanoke bureau, where she was the sole employee, and is unsure what she will do next.
Paul Colford, director of media relations for the AP, said Wednesday night that he could not comment specifically about the future of the Roanoke bureau.
Lindsey previously worked at The Roanoke Times for 19 years, where she was an editor and columnist. The Pennsylvania native has a master's degree in liberal studies from Hollins University.
The AP said it eliminated the jobs as part of a yearlong plan to cut payroll expenses worldwide by 10 percent.
The nonprofit news company said it set a goal 13 months ago to cut costs as it prepared to lower its fees for newspapers and broadcasters hit by the recession and the shift of advertising to the Internet. The AP reported that its revenue is expected to fall about 6 percent this year to roughly $700 million.
It said about 42 percent of its revenue comes from U.S. newspapers and broadcasters and that "their struggles finally squeezed the cooperative."
