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Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Crosscut Lays Off Assistant Editor

posted by on October 9 at 10:56 AM

The story line these days is this: Traditional newspapers are laying everybody off and shrinking as on-line outlets are growing and pushing the old world aside.

Locally, that story got turned on its head last week when on-line start up Crosscut—hyped as the region’s on-line daily—told assistant editor David Neiwert they were laying him off.

Neiwert was a part-timer, earning about $24,000 a year for the gig.

Crosscut, according to Neiwert, wants to shift the money to pay for more original content. Neiwert, for example, says he was responsible for things like assembling the Crosscut’s “clicker” —which is a round-up of headline stories from other news outlets.

Laying off Neiwert brings the staff down to Editor Chuck Taylor, one business-side staffer, and a tech person. They also pay stipends to writers like Knute Berger.

UPDATE:
Crosscut’s publisher David Brewster explains that Crosscut is not shrinking its operations. He says Neiwert is being replaced with a half-time editor. (They haven’t filled the position yet.) He also says he’s hired another full time employee, associate publisher Lucy Mohl. She begins early next week. “We’re expanding,” Brewester says.

RSS icon Comments

1

24K, not too bad. That's about how much one of Paul Allen's minions gets paid for fulltime. Watching lab animals suffocate under CO2 gas chambers is easy work though.

Posted by June Bee | October 9, 2007 11:08 AM
2

So that's what Crosscut pays.

Now Josh, a question you and colleagues have dodged yourself -- maybe Dan will label you with What. An. Asshole... But just asking, what does The Stranger pay its writers?

Or can we drop on you, Keck and the doorknob licker the Refuse to Answer label?

Posted by Just asking, short guy | October 9, 2007 11:20 AM
3

@2 Thank God there's no Smell-O-Vision here; I dread whiffing anyone's upset-o-spittle.

Posted by Lloyd Clydesdale | October 9, 2007 11:35 AM
4

Crosscut is the region's online daily?

Never heard of them.

Posted by Will in Seattle | October 9, 2007 11:45 AM
5

They're ditching an award-winning writer like Neiwert, while enabling an endless stream of drivel from Casy Coor and Chris Vance? Of course nobody reads this thing.

Posted by WenG | October 9, 2007 12:04 PM
6

neiwert is easily one of the best political bloggers in the NW.

Posted by bing | October 9, 2007 12:17 PM
7

So Crosscut has a "clicker" where they assemble links from other sources, just like Google News, only crappier! I can't imagine why they're laying people off.

Can I get a hundred million bucks of venture money for my new company, which is going to assemble the "Best of Slog" into some other page. It's a sure winner!

Posted by Fnarf | October 9, 2007 12:40 PM
8

Josh:

I guess I should have realized I was going on the record when I talked to you, so it's my bad in assuming this was just a professional courtesy call. But had I known I was on the record, I wouldn't have told you what I was making. That's my personal financial information, and I'm sure the folks at Crosscut aren't happy to see it published either.

Posted by David Neiwert | October 9, 2007 12:46 PM
9

The latest corollary of Gresham's Law -- Bad writing talent drives out good.

To think that they had Neiwert -- whose blog Orcinus writes circles around any and all "original" content in Crosscut -- hand-assembling the equivalent of an RSS feed or Daniel K's Pacific Northwest Topic Hotlist (see the sidebar of my blog or many other regional blogs)... No wonder they're such a smashing success, NOT.

Posted by N in Seattle | October 9, 2007 12:49 PM
10

Gossip - it's what we do best

Posted by Gatai | October 9, 2007 1:07 PM
11

Chuck Taylor isn't an editor. He's an undertaker.

Posted by wf | October 9, 2007 1:08 PM
12

So, in the Newspeak "expanding" now means "fewer employees".

Got it.

All previous contradictory references have now been deposited in The Memory Hole.

Posted by COMTE | October 9, 2007 1:28 PM
13

really? posting other people's salaries?

Posted by a touch of class | October 9, 2007 2:04 PM
14

is knute the conservative one on friday's kuow weekday? they off'd the wrong part-timer it appears.

Posted by shawn | October 9, 2007 2:27 PM
15

Lucy Mohl? Wow!

Posted by J.R. | October 9, 2007 2:35 PM
16

Dave Neiwert's blog, Orcinus, is fantastic. I read it every day and so should you.

Posted by Kiru Banzai | October 9, 2007 2:43 PM
17

Of all the people to lay off, they chose Dave Neiwert?! He has more talent than the rest of them combined. Pure madness.

I had some hope that Crosscut might grow into something interesting, but screw it.

Posted by Charity | October 9, 2007 3:17 PM

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