Early Thursday morning, The Charlotte Observer published a sprawling investigation by reporter Amber Gaudet, part of a series exposing an area log-cabin company accused of defrauding would-be homeowners. “It's the kind of work I have always thought our communities needed: journalism that holds the powerful to account, reveals vulnerabilities in the system and shines a light on injustice,” she wrote about the story in a post on LinkedIn.
Later in the morning, she was one of about eight journalists at the paper who were laid off, part of the latest bloodbath at McClatchy, the 169-year-old national newspaper chain behind the Observer and other prominent local papers, including The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee. The day left many inside and outside of the newsrooms fearful of the effects on local journalism and the communities those publications serve. Gaudet’s layoff carried with it an extra dose of irony. She and several of her soon-to-be former colleagues were cut just hours before they were scheduled to be honored for their work at a North Carolina Press Association awards ceremony.
Indeed, the cuts were carried out in shockingly haphazard fashion, according to several staffers who spoke to Status. People at many of the affected publications…
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