Paxton Media slashes staff at its newly purchased Ind. paper, which will now be printed in Mich.

"A discreet round of recent cutbacks" has reduced the staff of the Herald-Argus in LaPorte, Ind., by almost half, and some employees are upset at the new owner, Paxton Media Group of Paducah, Ky., reports Tom Wyatt of the Gary Post-Tribune.

Most of the cuts are related to Paxton's plan to print the daily, 12,488-circulation paper at its Herald-Palladium in nearby St. Joseph, Mich., starting Dec. 3. "Also on Oct. 31, four sales assistants, a staff photographer and the newspaper's wire editor were let go," Wyatt reports. "One former employee put the number of jobs lost at about 30 while another employee said it could affect as many as 40, or about half the newspaper's current staff." Paxton owns the 10,702-circulation News Dispatch of Michigan City, in the same county as LaPorte.

Fired Wire Editor Julie Kessler, who was on sick leave from back surgery, told Wyatt she was terminated by certified mail. "Kessler said employees at the paper had falsely been given assurances the sale would affect little regarding the Herald-Argus' production and staff," Wyatt reports. "She also said both the Herald-Argus and News-Dispatch editorial staffs are being told by Paxton officials to keep details of the cutbacks out of print." Paxton officials referred Wyatt to Herald-Argus Publisher Patrick Kellar, who did not return Wyatt's call. Neither did News-Dispatch Publisher Rick Welch. (Read more) The Rural Blog reported on the sale Sept. 9. For that item, and comments appended to it, click here.