San Diego needs a new newspaper to hire SDUT reporters

Voice of San Diego reports the loss of 29 reporters at the San Diego Union Tribune.

Shrinking Union-Tribune: 'Doing Less With Less'
By ROB DAVIS Voice Staff Writer
Jan. 7, 2008
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/01/07/news/01buyouts010708.txt

I found this section of the article interesting:

"...If you're going to downsize your reporting staff you don’t take a (federal law enforcement reporter) Kelly Thornton or Mark Sauer out of the mix," said one newsroom employee who accepted the offer. The staffer had signed a non-disclosure agreement and agreed to speak anonymously. "Those are the people you want to keep. To keep people interested in the paper, they take things away? It's all business driven at this point."

Nelson also pointed to Thornton as a key loss, saying he was "stunned" she wasn't begged to stay. Early in 2007, she helped break news that U.S. Attorney Carol Lam was being forced by the Bush Administration to resign -- before Lam had even announced the news. Her reporting in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks deeply detailed the lives of three hijackers who had trained and lived in San Diego.

"She's probably the most respected, reviled and feared reporter in San Diego," Nelson said. "And they're letting her go? That would be like The Washington Post letting Bob Woodward go..."