Southern Newspapers bought the Lawton Constitution 18 months or so ago and then decimated the place.
And, another newspaper owner, who lives in Oklahoma, is wrong to claim this was needed.
Even if the previous owner hadn't trimmed staff enough, you don't fire that many people at once.
In addition, people not fired for good were made to reapply for their jobs. You don't do THAT at all.
Nor do you engage in apparent age discrimination when deciding who to keep and who to let go among the totally fired or those made to reapply, then fired for good.
Of course, when you the supporting owner engage in your own form of cheapism, you say these things in the belief they're true.
Given that Lawton continues to grow, and I believe Fort Sill is continuing to do the same, or at least hold its own, and Southwest Oklahoma becomes a small retirement hub, that paper shouldn't have been cut that much. Not even having a dedicated Fort Sill reporter any more? Institutional memory down the crapper.
Also, why Gannett, owner of the Wichita Falls Times Record News, didn't consider a buy and doing some clustering work, since it has Sheppard AFB, and both cities have oil, I have no idea. The longer I am in the biz, the stupider the newspaper ownership class makes itself appear.
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