Amid cuts, Herald loses newsroom veterans

Two months after Boston Herald publisher Patrick J. Purcell said he was seeking deep newsroom cuts in an effort to find $7 million in savings at the financially troubled tabloid, a massive exodus is in full swing -- one that involves some of the paper's best known and most seasoned journalists.

According to Herald managers and union officials, 30 to 35 of the 145 unionized newsroom staff members have already left or are expected to leave soon. The vast majority have applied for a buyout, and a handful were laid off. The same managers and officials also estimate that 10 to 12 of the paper's 52 nonunion newsroom employees -- editors, columnists, and staff members working under contract -- will have departed by the end of the month. A small number of employees recently left voluntarily, without being laid off or taking a buyout.

The buyout packages offered by the Herald gave its departing journalists a monetary settlement based largely on their years of service at the company. The situation remains fluid, because some staff members whose buyout applications were accepted have not formally ratified their deals.

By all accounts, the departures have been a wrenching experience.

''It has been incredibly painful and disquieting to see so many talented newspeople walk out the door," Tom Mashberg, the newsroom union shop steward, said in an e-mail message. ''Our farewell parties are getting smaller and smaller. But those leaving and those staying agree on one thing: For the good of Boston, the Herald has to be there every morning."

In another e-mail message, departing reporter Tom Farmer said: ''It breaks my heart to see so many talented journalists leaving a paper that for many years distinguished itself by producing top quality work and consistently beat the competition. . . . I hope it works out for the people who are staying behind."

The ranks of those who have left or who are expected to go include sports editor Mark Torpey, executive arts editor Joel Brown, food editor Jane Dornbusch, book review editor Rosemary Herbert, Sunday editor Eric Norment, deputy managing editor for news Jim MacLaughlin, and senior executive city editor Mike Bello, who is now deputy city editor at the Globe. Lesley Phillips, an editorial page designer who is president of the Newspaper Guild, also took the buyout.

Mike Barnicle, the longtime Globe columnist who went to the Herald amid great fanfare last year, and veteran op-ed page columnist Beverly Beckham are among those leaving.

The sports department is expected to be hit particularly hard. As many as seven writers may leave, including Michael Gee, Mike O'Connor, and, according to a top Herald manager, veteran boxing writer George Kimball.

The reporting ranks are being thinned dramatically, with the loss of staff members such as Farmer, David Weber, J.M. Lawrence, Dean Johnson, and Jennifer Rosinski. The chief political reporter, David Guarino, left to work for Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly. The paper's Washington bureau is being shuttered, ending the Herald careers of Andrew Miga and Noelle Straub.

Feature reporters Christopher Cox and Stephanie Schorow are also among those leaving.

''I can truly say I loved it here," Schorow said. ''I'm going to take a deep breath and look at where the journalism business is going."

For the survivors in a streamlined newsroom, the crucial question is where the Herald is going. In interviews Thursday, managing editor Kevin Convey and editorial director Ken Chandler professed to be optimistic in a time of admitted uncertainty.

''I would liken this to a boxer who's preparing to get into the ring," Chandler said. ''We've shed some weight and now we're coming out in fighting condition. . . . The message to people here is we're all going to work harder because we're in a very tough environment."

''We've always existed on the edge, and we're going to continue to live on the edge," says Convey, who arrived at the paper almost a quarter-century ago. ''What you have left over [after the cuts] is a cadre of determined, want-to-be-here people. In some ways, that's a consolation."

The paper has reshuffled the deck with key personnel moves. The deputy managing editor for politics, Joe Sciacca, was bumped up to deputy managing editor for news. The deputy sports editor, Hank Hryniewicz, was named sports editor. Business reporter John Strahinich was tapped to edit the Sunday Herald. Financial editor Eric Convey became senior executive city editor, and assistant financial editor Greg Gatlin moved up to the financial editor slot.

Jen Miller, a copy editor, was promoted to executive city editor. Mashberg, formerly a reporter, was named a city editor, while reporter Jules Crittenden was moved to night editor. In addition, Dave Wedge, the lead reporter on the series that resulted in a $2.1 million libel verdict for Judge Ernest B. Murphy in February, has become the paper's lead enterprise reporter.

The Herald has also taken measures to save money and share resources, such as reducing travel, using more stories from non-union staff members at the Herald's Community Newspaper Co., and swapping articles with The Union Leader in Manchester, N.H. In a clear indication of the tabloid's evolving editorial philosophy, the paper downplayed the indictment Monday of the former Massachusetts House speaker, Thomas M. Finneran, leading its Page One with a story alleging neglect and unsanitary conditions at Dorchester's Malibu Beach.

According to Convey, the operative term for the paper's new focus is ''enterprise." The idea, he added, is ''to be talked about and dominate the water cooler agenda."