Newsroom not immune to cuts at the Des Moines Register

Of the 41 Des Moines Register staffers who lost their job this week, nine came from the editorial department.  Read on for the names of some of those affected.

Wednesday's edition of The Des Moines Register.

The most prominent staffer laid off was Brian Duffy, the editorial cartoonist at the paper since 1983 who followed in the footsteps of Pulitzer Prize winners Jay Norwood Darling and Frank Miller. Duffy’s dismissal ends a century-long tradition at “The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon” of running an editorial cartoon on its front page.

The others laid off this week from the newsroom include Tim Brown, a company librarian; Cindy Lane, who works on the paper’s calendar; Conrad Schmidt, a photographer for the paper’s suburban editions; Juli Probasco Sowers, a suburban and outdoors reporter; Jamie Suhr, a copy editor on the sports desk; Ken Seeber, a copy editor on the news desk; Stephanie Cox, a member of the online staff; and Tammy Cole, a graphic designer.

Todd Bailey, the paper’s online sports editor, and Randy Witke accepted accepted the company’s offer of a voluntary buyout.

“Some people will receive new assignments so that we fill positions internally,” said Register Editor Carolyn Washburn in a memo to staff. “It was important to us to find the best fits possible for the unique requirements of each job.”

She added: “These decisions are very tough not only on the people impacted, but on all of us, I know.”