Colorado Independent lays off six in restructuring

UPDATED 8:25 P.M. 11/10/2008

Two Colorado Independent staff writers, as well as most of the left-leaning news Web site's freelance staffers, were laid off Monday as part of an organizational restructuring.

Full-time staff writers Jason Kosena and Naomi Zeveloff were laid off, according to Independent officials. Part-timers Rowena Alegria, Jeff Bridges, Erin Rosa, and Bob Spencer were also let go.

Cara DeGette and Wendy Norris will continue as leaders of the site, though some of their editing duties will be delegated to Washington, D.C., said Jefferson Morley, national editorial director for the Center for Independent Media, the group that owns the Independent and news sites in five other states.

The layoffs leave the site with three full-time staffers: DeGette, Norris, and staff writer David O. Williams. Part-time blogger Ernest Luning will also continue with the site.

Morley said the decision was made because of the nationwide economic crisis.

"We're in economic hard times. We're a non-profit that's dependent on philanthropy," Morley said. "We gotta plan for the future just like everybody else."

"We're losing some really good journalists. We are very sorry that we can't keep them," Morley said. "On the other hand, we've got a good core and we think we can build on the success we've had so far."

But Colorado Independent publisher David Bennahum said the decision to reorganize was made before the economic crisis, though he said he couldn't pinpoint the exact time the decision was made.

Bennahum said the changes will allow the Center for Independent Media to open sites in several other yet-to-be-determined states in 2009.

"We have to be lean and I think this allows us to do that," he said.

The layoffs are the latest blow to political coverage in Colorado. Earlier this year, the Colorado Springs Gazette closed its Statehouse bureau. The Fort Collins Coloradoan is still deciding whether to keep its State Capitol bureau open for the next legislative session. 

Also Monday, two full-time staff writers and the entire freelance writing staff were laid off from the Minnesota Independent, the Colorado Independent's sister site, according to the Twin Cities Daily Planet.

The Colorado Independent was founded in 2006 as Colorado Confidential.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that the Fort Collins Coloradoan closed its Statehouse bureau this year. The newspaper is still deciding on the future of the bureau, according to Bob Moore, the Coloradoan's executive editor.