OC Weekly, SF Weekly Hit With Layoffs

A major series of layoffs hit the Village Voice Media chain today. California got hit especially hard. FishbowlLA has confirmed that OC Weekly lost staff writer Chasen Marshall, who was with the paper for the past year or so. That leaves the Weekly with only three staff writers.

Layoffs absolutely decimated the SF Weekly, which lost four editorial staffers: Web editor Jake Swearingen, SFoodie blog editor W. Blake Gray, reporter Matt Smith, and calendar editor and blogger Hiya Swanhuyser. Smith’s loss is especially brutal. He had been with the paper for more than a decade and was by far the paper’s most well-known and popular writer.

From what we’re told, the carnage isn’t over. LA Weekly may very well be hit with yet another round of layoffs before the end of the week. More on that as it comes in.

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