It's rumored that 20 newsroom-based Media Workers Guild employees at the San Francisco Chronicle will be involuntarily laid off today. We're told that a union steward sent a message to its members recommending that, if they are indeed called to HR, to bring a guild representative with them to help protect their interests. Yikes.
Reports are trickling in with the names of who has been tapped thus far. The list so far, which we've confirmed with our sources, we will add to or correct if and when we receive additional information:
- John Koopman -- best known for his "The Badge" series on the SFPD
- Jonathan Curiel -- presently responsible for Chronicle Watch. Does this mark the end of Phil Bronstein's subscriber-beloved pet project?
- Susan Sward -- an investigative reporter, remember that the Chronicle laid her off the next time someone whines about how only newspapers do "deep investigative reporting." Not if they fire the only people who do that, they don't.
- Mark Hedin -- copy editor, nice man, and reporter who covered many different topics while at the paper.
- Tyche Hendricks -- Tyche has always written intelligently and compassionately about issues affecting immigrants, among other topics.
- Deborah Gage, -- hired by the business section a little more than year ago to write about computers and technology. This leaves the Technology section fairly well decimated.
- Derrick Smith -- copy editor. Remember that the next time you want to get all shitty about copy editing on SFist. The papers don't have 'em either!
- Delfin Vigil -- he of the infamous Examiner ad.
- Zahid Sardar -- tried to write about design.
