Layoffs

The New York Times announced that it's all but a done deal that the paper will have to layoff staffers in the newsroom.

The drop-dead deadline is fast approaching for the staffers in The New York Times newsroom to raise their hand and volunteer for a buyout. An internal memo from the paper's assistant managing editor, Bill Schmidt, just went out and said that "we expect" that the buyout numbers aren't looking good and that for the first time the paper will be forced to cut the newsroom through layoffs.

"While layoffs have become all too common across our industry, this is the first time the newsroom as a whole has confronted that blunt reality, and we approach it with a heavy heart," he said in the e-mail.

The entire memo is below:  read more »

Today is a grim day at CBS interactive. According to a source at the CBS broadcast center, all day long, people have been walking out of the building on West 57th Street with their work possessions packed up in boxes.

At least ten people have been laid off, according to the source. The cuts seem to be primarily affecting new, young staffers on both the weekend and overnight crew.

The cuts are not entirely a surprise. According to our source, several people have quit the division recently and afterwards their positions had not been re-filled.

Earlier today, the head of the web site sent out an email notifying staffers of a 5 PM meeting to discuss the cuts—and what will become of cbsnews.com in the aftermath.