The cuts came from several departments, including news, advertising, pre-press, financial and circulation, Palladium-Item general manager and executive editor Mickey Johnson told employees. The cuts were a part of nationwide changes made by Gannett Co. Inc.

In a related discussion thread, online editor Jason Truitt discussed the cuts:

Was I blind-sided by the layoffs announcement? No. The furloughs in the first two quarters of this year were a temporary measure in the hopes the economy would quickly turn around. When it didn't, it was obvious more permanent measures would have to be taken. The only question was if it would be in the form of layoffs or pay cuts.

What has taken center stage the past year in Muncie, government meetings, WCTV offers in astonishing quantity: the Richmond Board of Works meetings, sanitary district board, parks and recreation board, Wayne County Council, Richmond City Council, the local plan commission, Richmond Human Rights Commission meetings. Both live and rebroadcast later.  I'm in awe.

The editorial was enough to make someone at the local Palladium-Item take notice, and they published their own praise today that echoes those sentiments:

We have noted in this space on past occasions that it is all too common a trait for people to take for granted that which they have in their backyard. All too often, it takes others to explain our assets...it is our public access television, Whitewater Community Television, that serves such a fine public-interest informational role, virtually without fanfare.

Congratulations to John Oak Dalton (past interview guest in episode #18 of the RNR) and the entire staff of WCTV for the recognition, and more importantly, for all that they do that is never fully appreciated.

It will be interesting to see what it means to have WMUB operated by CPR.  It could be a way for them to continue some or all of their programming with a new source of funding and other resources, or it could mean that 88.5 becomes a "repeater" for CPR content, and that the Oxford-based station ceases most operations as we've known them.

The first, on the closing of the locally-housed print press (announced in November), is a nice piece by Bill Engle that includes interviews and retrospective on the history of the press, and the implications of the change.

The second by executive editor Mickey Johnson is a detailed inventory of other changes to the paper's format, content and production schedule. These include rearranging and combining the paper's main sections, leaving out the "Viewpoints" page on Wednesdays, plans to have "a bigger Sports section and create a Local Life section that's exclusively local" on Sunday, and various new web-based features including a new "behind the scenes" blog by Jason Truitt.

Both articles are nice bits of transparency, and genuine acknowledgements of the realities of a changing industry.

The local press not only prints the Palladium-Item itself, but also serves as a printing center for USA Today, The Earlham Word, and several other publications.  While the article notes that delivery times for the Pal-Item are not expected to change, it doesn't discuss the future of these other publications.

The move comes as one in a series of changes scaling back the paper's operations, including staff cuts and an increased focus on online offerings that aren't tied to local offices.  While nothing is certain, those watching the newspaper industry in general and Gannett's practices in particular know that this trend could eventually spell the end of the Palladium-Item's publication altogether.

The chat offered by the paper appears to be tied to event-specific, pre-determined time periods instead of available on an ongoing basis.  We've covered the availability of the always-available and free Live-Richmond.com chat room here, including in episodes 14 and 24.

If you try out this new offering on Thursday night, let us know what you think by posting a comment below!

Let us know what you think about this additional format - or even better, join us for the next RNR Live show on Wednesday, October 1st 2008 at 8:30 PM. You can just listen or join our live show chat room, but you can also call in with your phone or computer to share your thoughts - learn more about participating in our live broadcasts.

You can post your comments below, or e-mail us at letters@richmondnewsreview.com. We appreciate your feedback!

If you'd like to participate by calling in to discuss the issues of the day and share your opinion, and if you won't mind being patient through the inevitable technical glitches that can come up in a live broadcast, please join us.

The live broadcast will take place from 8:30 until about 8:50 PM, and may be shorter or longer depending on participation and how well the tech works.   You can join the pre-show chat as early as 8:15 PM.  All of the information you need to listen, chat and call in will be available on our Listen page under the "Live Broadcasts" heading  We'll keep it pretty informal, so don't worry about having anything coherent to say if you do call in.

If things go well, we'll also post the recording of the show as a new episode.

Links from stories in this week's show:

• Ralph Nader campaign website
• Cynthia McKinney campaign website
• Bob Barr campaign website
• FairVote.org
• Project Vote Smart
• honeybeehill - Melissa's online store of handcrafted items

Tell us what you think about this episode of RNR. You can post your comments below, or e-mail us at letters@richmondnewsreview.com. We appreciate your feedback!