Media Insider: NY Daily News Newsroom Cut in Half, Capital Gazette Shooting Suspect Indicted, How an Iowa Paper is Covering a Tornado that Took its Power

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s round-up of media stories from the week.

THE NEW YORK TIMES | JACLYN PEISER
Tronc Cuts Daily News Newsroom in Half and Ousts Editor in Chief

In a meeting that reportedly lasted less than a minute, reporters and editors with The Daily News were told newsroom staff was being cut in half and that the editor in chief, Jim Rich, was out of a job, reports The New York Times. The news wasn’t entirely unexpected. A memo sent to employees spelled out exactly what would happen: “We are reducing today the size of the editorial team by approximately 50 percent and refocusing much of our talent on breaking news — especially in areas of crime, civil justice and public responsibility.”

Read more about it: New York Daily News to slash 50 percent of its newsroom

THE BALTIMORE SUN | IAN DUNCAN
Capital Gazette shooting suspect Ramos indicted on 23 counts

Anne Arundel County, Maryland prosecutors have filed an indictment charging Capital Gazette shooting suspect Jarrod Ramos with 23 counts in last month’s rampage at the Annapolis newsroom, reports The Baltimore Sun. Ramos is accused of attempted murder, assault and weapons offenses, and five counts of first-degree murder. Since the shooting, Capital Gazette staff have continued to produce a print edition and online updates, with the help of journalists from The Baltimore Sun, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, NPR and other news organizations, The Baltimore Sun says.

From the South Jersey Times: Newsroom violence hit close to home

POYNTER | KRISTEN HARE
Power loss but not powerless: How a daily in Iowa is coping with and covering a tornado

Less than two weeks into young editor Emily Barske’s first job, the Marshalltown, Iowa Times-Republican was hit by a tornado. The TR newsroom sustained minor damage, mostly to the roof, Poynter reports. But the newsroom couldn’t operate from there because of power outages, so the Friday paper was produced in a nearby town at a sister paper. Barske, Publisher Abigail Pelzer, and the TR team made do with what they could, reporting on the storm’s damage and the aftermath. Functioning internet at their homes allowed them to work to keep the website updated.

Meet new editor Emily Barske: T-R names news editor with local roots

NIEMAN JOURNALISM LAB | KEN DOCTOR
Newsonomics: Newsprint tariffs are a Black Swan event that could speed up the death of U.S. newspapers

The battle is heating up on Capitol Hill over tariffs that the Trump administration imposed on Canadian groundwood paper earlier this year, reports Nieman Lab. “The tariffs increase the cost of newsprint by as much as 30 to 35 percent, though the impact on publishers is highly uneven, with some chains in better shape and the dwindling independents most at risk,” it says. “The predictable impacts already in motion: more newsroom layoffs, thinner (and reshaped) print products, fewer Sunday preprints, and an overall further diminishing of the value proposition newspapers are offering their readers.”

In more tariff news: Congress steps up efforts to reverse newsprint tariffs

MEDIAPOST | MELYNDA FULLER
Quartz Launches Weekly News Show Covering Global Economy