Montana station lays off veteran reporter whose statewide reports had a rural impact

For some time we've reported about metropolitan newspapers abandoning circulation and coverage in rural areas, and now the trend has shown up in broadcasting. A Montana television station has laid off a veteran journalist whose special reports had statewide impact in Montana, especially its vast rural areas, and whose work in freedom of information served journalists nationwide.

Ian Marquand had been at KPAX-TV in Missoula since 1978. "The senior reporter, journalism mentor and open-government advocate was the station's special projects coordinator, a position the station cut to combat the recession," reports Keila Szpaller of The Missoulian. The station's general manager, Bob Hermes, told her, "The need or the opportunity to use a statewide special projects coordinator has kind of changed over time, so it's just an area the company decided to go without given the state of the economy." (Photo by Luke George, University of Montana)

Marquand's final report for the station was a 2½-minute look ahead at stories for Western Montana in 2009, including several of rural interest in a state that was 46 percent rural at the 2000 census. Because your blogger knows Ian and his journalistic skills well, I can say that the only part of the report that was off base was his final line: "See you next year."

As freedom-of-information chairman of the Society of Professional Journalists, including my term as president in 2001-02, Marquand produced Open Doors, a resource book for journalists to use laws on open meetings, courts and records. In 2004, SPJ awarded him the Wells Key, its highest honor to a member, for service to the society. On the FOI Committee's blog, Chairman David Cullier called Ian a "longtime SPJ FOI hero."

Ian says his layoff surprised him, but he is looking forward to life's next phase. He told Szpaller, “It may be that it will be something in television. It may be something elsewhere in journalism. It might be in the academic world,” he said. “I think I bring a certain group of skills that would be useful in a number of areas.” (Read more) I agree. Good luck, my friend.