The Billings Gazette is In the News, and Not In a Good Way

Do you read your local newspaper?  Here in Billings and the surrounding areas, chances are that you’ve read the Billings Gazette.  For those of you not in the media industry, you may not be privy to the changes taking place in the media industry as a whole, not just in print.  However, this latest news of media shake up comes from the Billings Gazette.

KVTQ 2 reported  yesterday that the Billings Gazette and Helena Independent Record, owned by Lee Enterprises were rocked with job buyouts, lay offs and a big bonus for Lee Enterprises CEO Mary Junck.

Several months ago Lee Enterprises (the parent company of  the Billings Gazette) filed for bankruptcy.  The bonus that went to Junck was due to the company’s successful refinancing, so we are told, and is reportedly in the amount of 500K!   According to the KTVQ 2 story:

The Helena Independent Record has laid off a handful of employees, and other Lee Enterprise employees across the state, including at the Billings Gazette, have been offered buyouts.

With declining circulation of the Billings Gazette,  they began limiting page views on the website after implementing the highly controversial   “paywall.”   At last report, Lee Enterprises  stock was trading at 1 dollar 25 cents per share.

Being in the media industry and seeing firsthand how the business has changed, both for the good and now for the bad, we wish all those affected the best of luck.