Local Jounalism Takes It On the Chin!!!!

This fall while everyone will be going back to school and high school sports begin the new school year you will see a noticeable absence on the sidelines. More importantly, that something missing on the sideline will also be missing the next day in the Bloomsburg Press-Enterprise and Reading Eagle.

The Eagle laid off 52 staff or 12 percent of it work force. Among those cut according to some sources are most of the high school sports staff including those who do the Anthracite section in your Sunday paper.

Over at the P-E, Mitch Ruppert and Scott Dudinskie who were award winners for the paper were let go.

The layoff cuts the sports department in half from 4 FT and 4 PT down to 2 and 2. The good news is that Mitch Ruppert has landed a full time gig with the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

It looks like between both papers the target is high school sports. The local sports scene needs people like Mr. Dudinskie. He was great with his previews and outstanding with his coverage. I would like to commend him and Mr. Ruppert on the excellent work they did with their weekly football tab. I wonder if there will be one in the fall.

One of the my complaints of the PE had nothing to do with it's sports staff but it's online version. It decided early on that it was going to have subscription service. It was at this time I turned away from the paper.