My wife commented this morning that the Journal Star has cut the size of its paper. Sections that used to have six pages (e.g., Taste, Business) are now down to four. The Cue section has shrunk from ten pages to eight.

Then I turn on the Markley & Luciano show on 1470 WMBD and hear that they’re also cutting staff. Luciano called it “Bloody Thursday.” While not mentioned in the Journal Star article about the layoffs, Phil said five employees in the newsroom were given pink slips, as well as five or six non-newsroom employees.

This is bad news for Peoria. Fewer reporters means fewer stories get covered, fewer leads are followed, and the watchdog capability of the fourth estate is reduced. It also means that more people are going to cancel their subscriptions, which will undoubtedly result in further cost-cutting. The future looks dismal for the largest downstate Illinois newspaper.

No word yet on which reporters were canned. Maybe one of the remaining reporters will investigate that for a future article.