Only news on AnnArbor.com layoffs

Posted: Mar 12, 2011 at 9:12 AM [Mar 12, 2011]

http://news.michiganradio.org/post/annarborcom-lays-14-employees

Ann Arbor.com laid off 14 employees this week. 

The mostly web publication, which also puts out a print edition twice a week, replaced the 174-year old Ann Arbor News when it closed its doors in 2009.

 Tony Collings is a University of Michigan communications professor and a former journalist. He says a lot of journalists and professional journalism organizations were looking to see whether Ann Arbor.com would be some kind of model for the future:

"Apparently it isn’t, or at least it doesn’t seem to be succeeding in a business way, and I don’t know whether it is succeeding journalistically either."

This week’s layoffs leave about 20 or so people in the Ann Arbor.com newsroom. Back in its hey day, the Ann Arbor News had about 75 reporters in its newsroom.