National Enquirer Loses Three Reporters*

Here’s a question for all those inquiring minds out there: How do you put out a competitive celebrity gossip weekly when you’ve got a diminishing number of full-time reporters on the ground?

FishbowlLA is hearing that the National Enquirer has laid off Los Angeles staffers Sarah Cordes and Jon Boon.* It’s not clear whether they are being replaced or their responsibilities amalgamated. In a possibly related move, British born veteran New York Enquirer staffer Alexander Hitchen has reportedly chosen to move on to the greener pastures of the New York Daily News.

It’s hard not to think of the letters T-M-Z in this context. The Enquirer, once the cock of the celebrity gossip walk, has been overrun by Harvey Levin’s tour buses, TMZ Live, TMZ syndicated show and poll-tastic website.

The cameramen that provide Levin and co. with “gotcha” footage may not be getting the kind of medical benefits Enquirer employees did during the American Median Inc. (AMI) heyday. But that’s the way the news gathering industry as a whole has evolved in recent years, and who knows, maybe AMI is shifting more towards freelancers and contractors.

FishbowlLA has reached out to AMI for comment. If they respond, we will update this item.

[Meanwhile, here are some recent sample Enquirer articles by Cordes, Boon and Hitchen.]

*Update – 08/13/2012: Boon segued very quickly last month after his dismissal to AMI sister operation Radar Online. His work can be accessed here.