Paper closures brings back unpleasant memories

In April 2024, I got a pit in my stomach.
It was opening day for the Twins, and I was excited to work a couple of short hours, then head over to Target Field for Opening Day.
Then the email came through. Our publisher called an emergency all-staff meeting for, I believe, 10 a.m.
I knew right there and then what it was. Layoffs.
We all got on the video call, and it was very clear what was about to happen. Corporate HR was on the call, and in an approximately five-minute call, it was announced Southwest News Media, a chain of six newspapers in the south metro, was closing that month.
We got some severance money and were able to work a couple of more weeks.
As it would turn out, the way corporate handled the paper closures was much better than what happened last week, when News Media Corp. announced the closure of 14 newspaper operations across the midwest.
According to news reports, hundreds of employees immediately lost their jobs.
It brings back memories for me from last year.
A number of emotions and thoughts raced through my head that day.
Just a few months prior, my wife and I had bought our first home, and she was looking to change careers. It was not an ideal time to be unemployed.
I made a few calls that morning, some to sources I had covered. I called former editors who had previously left the company, including the one with whom I was going to the game, and my wife.
I also called Rick Bussler, the publisher of this paper.
I half-jokingly asked if he had any work for me, and he said he would consider.
Bussler was the second boss I ever had in this business. He hired me to work as the editor of the Dodge County Independent when I was in my early 20s.
I went to the ball game, had a great time, and then went to VINGO with my friends after.
While playing VINGO I got a call from Bussler, who had given it some thought and decided to bring me on to the staff. There was no opening, but on a day when a corporation was giving up on local journalism, he was doubling down on his commitment to local news.
Over the next couple of days, we worked out the details. My last day of work was on a Friday, and I had bylines in the DCI the next Monday.
It is no secret, local journalism has had a rough go of it the last couple of decades, especially print journalism, like the jobs so many journalists showed up to last week suddenly lost.
It’s why I am very proud to work where I do, a place that is committed to local journalism.