More than a dozen layoffs hit the editorial staff of the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, December 4.
The layoffs amount to a significant reduction in the paper’s reporting staff. Also cut were a number of senior editors, including long-serving managing editor Harley Lond, lead TV critic Barry Garron, Hy Hollinger, a veteran editor in the international department and New York-based features editor Randee Dawn Cohen.
The film department bore the brunt of the layoffs among reporters. Film and tech writer Carolyn Giardina and film reporter Leslie Simmons were among those let go, along with New York-based film reporter Gregg Goldstein and television reporter Kimberly Nordyke. Cuts were also made among copy editors, graphics and other support areas. Reporter Lauren Horwich of the Reporter’s sister publication Backstage was also pinkslipped Thursday.
With Garron’s departure, it’s expected that longtime Reporter freelancer and columnist Ray Richmond will assume oversight of the paper’s television reviews.
Insiders said the layoffs were part of an across-the-board cost-cutting effort at the Reporter’s parent company, the Nielsen Co. The daily showbiz trade paper has faced several rounds of staff reductions since a consortium of private equity firms acquired the Reporter’s parent company, whose assets include Billboard magazine and the Nielsen-branded audience and marketing measurement services, in 2006.
Credit: Variety
