Seriously: Sometime this industry can suck.

The Portland Press Herald will be losing three of its seasoned political reporters, reports Al Diamon who writes the Media Mutt blog for Downeast magazine. Diamon cited anonymous sources with the paper. State House reporter Paul Carrier, Washington, D.C., reporter Jonathan Kaplan, and political reporter Kevin Wack are three of seven reporters who have accepted a buyout from the paper. The Press Herald is cutting a number of jobs as part of their recent round of budget cuts. Press Herald bureaus may also be closed -- including the Washington, D.C. and Augusta offices, Diamon writes.

Diamon makes two corrections to his story:

Another clarification: According to a staff source, Washington correspondent Jonathan Kaplan did not take the buyout offered by the Press Herald. Kaplan was eligible for the voluntary deal, but because he had been at the paper only six months, he would have received little in the way of compensation for accepting it. Instead, he was laid off.

Al Diamon

And:

Here's an update and a correction: According to a Press Herald staffer who was present at the company's announcement today, the paper in permanently closing its Augusta, Bath, Biddeford and Washington bureaus.

I miscalculated the number of reporters the Press Herald will have left after the voluntary terminations. It's 19 full-time and one part-time.

Al Diamon