Phillip Pantuso reports in the Times Union that hundreds of journalists employed by Gannett walked off their jobs June 5 to protest layoffs and other cost-cutting measures. Some of the journalists were from Hudson Valley-based Gannett newspapers The Times Herald-Record, The Poughkeepsie Journal, and The Journal News, which publishes online at LoHud.com. Gannet has let go nearly half of its workforce since 2019. “With every vacant position, another politician’s corruption goes unnoticed, another mom-and-pop store loses out on needed publicity, another parent is unaware of the actions of their local school board, another high school lacrosse game goes uncovered, another low-income resident has no place left to turn when their benefits are in jeopardy,” said Asher Stockler, a Journal News reporter and secretary of the Hudson Valley News Guild, the NewsGuild division representing the Hudson Valley journalists. Locally there are only a few Gannett journalists left. The Times Herald-Record and Poughkeepsie Journal have no full-time news reporters (one reporter covers Poughkeepsie part-time) and no editors. “We walked out today because CEO Mike Reed has decimated our newsrooms,” said Peter Kramer, a Westchester-based reporter for Gannett’s USA Today Network and chair of the Hudson Valley News Guild. “He crows about his commitment to local journalism as he strip mines our newspapers, sells off properties and pays bottom-dollar salaries. ... These decisions tear at the very heart of the communities we are dedicated to serving.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.