Layoffs Begin at AP: 'Fact-Checkers' Hardest Hit

The Associated Press let the world know they had redundant reportorial resources the other day when they devoted 11 reporters to "fact-check" Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue. Well, wouldn't it be a terrible shame if some of them were among the AP's latest job casualties?

Layoffs are underway Tuesday at The Associated Press, stemming from the news cooperative's year-ago announcement that it would cut staffing costs by 10%.

The job losses at The AP come after the U.S. unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 10.2% in October, and as the newspaper industry--the news cooperative's main source of income--is mired in a financial squeeze amid sharp declines in circulation and advertising.

Tony Winton, president of the News Media Guild, a union that represents editorial employees at The AP, said the layoffs occurring at the news cooperative are scattered throughout the U.S., but that he doesn't yet have a count of the number of workers being let go.

"They have to notify us of the details at some point, but we're literally the last people in line for the information," Winton said. "They'll tell the employees first, and there are meetings taking place this afternoon to deliver the news."

Tom Curley, The AP's chief executive, announced the plan to cut 10% of its staff a year ago, when the staff had roughly 4,000 people, signaling a reduction of about 400 people.

One figures when Palin follows up her current blockbuster with another, AP will only be able to devote 10 reporters to "fact-checking" it.

In other newspaper news, it looks like we've got an investigation into union thuggery.

Good times, my friends, good times.