Death by a Thousand Cuts

Another grim week in the media business has ended, and not a minute too soon.

As in other industries hit by the recession, workers in the news and information business have had to adjust to a new reality, one in which weekly rounds of layoffs and the closure of bureaus and entire publications has become the norm. At times, it feels like media workers are playing the unwitting role of victim in The Pit and the Pendulum, helpless as the ax swings closer and closer.

This week was particularly bloody, the blade cutting an astounding number of positions at places like AOL, the Associated Press, BusinessWeek, and Time Inc. The following rundown is not for the faint of heart.

On Monday, word came that Window Media, publishers of some of the country's largest and most prominent gay and lesbian newspapers and alt-weeklies would be shutting down its operations. The entire staffs of the Washington Blade, Atlanta's Southern Voice and David Atlanta, the South Florida Blade, David, and 411 would be out of work effective immediately. (One bright note: Staffers of the Washington Blade are planning to reorganize and launch their own publication according to Washington City Paper's Erik Wemple.)

Tuesday brought news of massive layoffs at the Associated Press. Four bureaus closed costing 90 people their jobs, in addition to 100 buyouts from earlier this year. The cuts were so wide-ranging in terms of bureaus and locations, Gawker made a map showing cuts across the world.

On Wednesday, the New York Post's Keith Kelly reported as many as 500 layoffs coming to Time Inc., including 40 positions to be eliminated at Fortune by the year's end.

Thursday, AOL's CEO Tim Armstrong confirmed in a video memo to his staff that Project Everest was upon them, requesting 2,500 voluntary buyouts by December 11. After that, the cuts would be involuntary. AOL had already trimmed 10 percent of its staff this year, with 100 layoffs just last week.

BusinessWeek also eliminated 33 percent of its staff as the publication changes hands from McGraw-Hill to Bloomberg. The New York Times' Stephanie Clifford puts the number of jobless at 100, while the Post's Kelly thinks it's closer to 130 people. As befits our modern, mixed-up era, Race Talk Blog's Ben Haber (no relation to this writer) live blogged the layoffs.

A lot of skilled, formerly employable people will probably be pushing their Thanksgiving meals around on their plates, their appetites ruined by what feels like the collapse of their industry and the very real prospect of having the reinvent themselves professionally. And for those who remain employed at these and other companies—their offices emptier, their workloads doubled and tripled—it's hard to imagine they'll be feeling very thankful either.

Another quarter looms. And with it, another swing of the ax. If it didn't slice them this week, they likely fear, it'll get them later.