Word is that E.W. Scripps is laying off 300 people as part of a previously reported restructuring.
Scripps News correspondent Cat Sandoval tweeted about losing her job and warned more layoffs were following.
“Looks like @TuckerCarlson & @donlemon stole my thunder,” said Sandoval. “I too am leaving @scrippsnews. My last day is end of May. I’m one of 300 people who was laid off. It’s been a fun & amazing 6 years. Grateful for this experience and the ppl I’ve met along the way.”
Scripps has a different story, telling TVSpy, Sandoval’s contract was expiring at the end of May and will not be renewed.
“We are in the midst of a restructuring, which we announced in January,” said Scripps. “The reductions, which mostly have not occurred, will be throughout the company and will take place over a period of several months. It is definitely not 300 layoffs at Scripps News or only in news divisions.”
According to her bio, Sandoval joined Scripps in 2017. Before that, she owned a boutique video production company in New York City and also created and hosted an NBC series called Take Back, with the aim of dispelling stereotypes about Asian Americans. She is a former New York president of the Asian American Journalists Association.
Scripps News launched in January and is the rebranded version of its over the air and streaming app Newsy, serving national news out of Atlanta. It has bureaus in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Missoula, Nashville, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa and Tulsa.
In February, Scripps owned Cincinnati station WCPO reported that E.W. Scripps Co. would “eliminate 300 jobs in the next 12 months as part of a national restructuring aimed at reducing annual expenses by $40 million. The cuts represent about 5% of its 5,600-employee workforce, according to the company’s most recent annual report to shareholders.”
The Cincinnati-based media company, parent company of WCPO 9 News, announced the job cuts as part of its fourth-quarter earnings release.
“The reorganization work will include the centralization of some services and the consolidation of layers of management across the company,” CEO Adam Symson said in a press release. “We expect to realize savings of at least $40 million. Our end goal, however, is not just a more efficient structure but a smarter one, designed to use the breadth of our assets to accelerate the company’s growth.”