"Who in the hell is gonna cover sports?" asks Akron reporter

Cleveland Scene As it was announced that a quarter of the Akron Beacon Journal newsroom would be let go, people ran to bathrooms, crying. "Others fled to a downtown bar to numb the news," writes Denise Grollmus. Veteran reporter and editor Dave Wilson decided it was time to get rid of his Knight Ridder coffee mug. He grabbed a driver, teed up the mug and swung. "It was like saying adios to that whole scenario," he says.

But Knight Ridder was the epitome of an old, lethargic company. "It became so bureaucratic," Wilson says. "There were too many committees, and committees always make bad choices."

One committee decided to put all the websites entirely under corporate control. Until recently, the Beacon newsroom had no input into what landed on Ohio.com.

From Poynter.org/Romenesko 8/31/06

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