News Junkie Sues Paper Over Reporter Lay-Offs
Lawsuit claims that downsizing at newspaper will substantially affect coverage.
July 11, 2008— -- When newspaper reader Keith Hempstead found out that the paper he had just renewed his subscription to was cutting its staff and its coverage, he didn't just get mad. He filed a lawsuit.
Hempstead, a real estate lawyer in Durham, N.C. and former newspaper reporter, alleges that Raleigh-based The News & Observer cheated him and other subscribers by changing its coverage after they signed up for service.
"I'm not doing it out of spite, I'm doing it because I still love the newspaper," said Hempstead, whose suit complains that fewer sections, thinner newspapers, and less newsroom staff are "changes that will substantially reduce the quality to what it is currently."
"I wanted to get the newspaper's attention," said Hempstead, "because I knew canceling my subscription wasn't going to hurt them."
A subscriber since 2002, Hempstead says he renewed his subscription – which he says costs about $100 per year – in late May.
The McClatchy Company, which owns about 80 newspapers across the country, including The News & Observer, announced June 16 that it was cutting about 10 percent of its staff, or about 1,400 full-time employees.
"The effects of the current national economic downturn -- particularly in real estate, auto and employment advertising -- make it essential that we move faster now to realign our workforce and make our operations more efficient," said McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt in a statement. "I'm sorry this requires the painful announcement we are making today, but we're taking this action to help ensure a healthy future for our company."
The layoffs included 70 employees at The New & Observer and a consequent downsize in the size of the paper, which, Hempstead said, amounts to fraud.
"I liken it to a situation where somebody buys an airplane ticket from North Carolina to Los Angeles," said Hempstead. "They purchase it in advance and then find out a few days before the trip that the airline is no longer going to L.A. It's just going to Denver."
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