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New Owner Of Ogden's Standard-Examiner Axes 21 Jobs

iStock / Thinglass

Updated 5/13/18: The new owners of Ogden’s Standard-Examiner announced significant layoffs on Thursday — the latest cutbacks rocking Utah’s media landscape.

A combination of consolidation, declining circulation and ad sales have caused upheaval in the industry for some time, but regional papers have been hit especially hard.

Ogden Newspapers, the parent company of the Standard-Examiner, announced it was shedding 21 positions from its Northern Utah paper, including five in the newsroom.
 
The Standard-Examiner’s executive editor Greg Halling confirmed he was one of those fired. Four others were let go and three open positions will remain unfilled. Publisher Brandon Erlacher was also laid off. That leaves fewer than 20 news staff.

 

Following the news, several reporters at the paper shared messages of support via Twitter.

 

It comes on the heels of similar news from the Salt Lake Tribune, which announced it would be cutting an unspecified number of positions and shrink its print edition.

The West Virgina-based Ogden Newspapers Inc. purchased the Standard-Examiner last month. They also own two Utah County papers, including The Daily Herald in Provo.

In a statement issued Saturday, Michael Christman, regional publisher for Ogden Newspapers of Utah, said the layoffs would allow the newspaper to "better focus its mission on true community journalism" and "free up" reporters. 

"The Ogden Newspapers is committed to providing a strong community newspaper to the residents of greater Weber County, and to providing great coverage on the important issues affecting our community," Christman said in a statement. "We are very confident with the direction we intend to take The Standard-Examiner — and that direction is focusing on how life is lived in this region."

This story has been updated from a previous version with new layoff totals and a statement from Ogden Newspapers. 

 

Julia joined KUER in 2016 after a year reporting at the NPR member station in Reno, Nev. During her stint, she covered battleground politics, school overcrowding, and any story that would take her to the crystal blue shores of Lake Tahoe. Her work earned her two regional Edward R. Murrow awards. Originally from the mountains of Western North Carolina, Julia graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2008 with a degree in journalism. She’s worked as both a print and radio reporter in several states and several countries — from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to Dakar, Senegal. Her curiosity about the American West led her to take a spontaneous, one-way road trip to the Great Basin, where she intends to continue preaching the gospel of community journalism, public radio and podcasting. In her spare time, you’ll find her hanging with her beagle Bodhi, taking pictures of her food and watching Patrick Swayze movies.
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