Cincy Post shutting in 3 weeks

By Joe Strupp
Editor & Publisher
With less than three weeks to go before it shuts its doors for good, life at The Cincinnati Post is not all doom and gloom.

After three years to think about the pending closure, which also includes the sister Kentucky Post, most staffers accepted the prospect of lost jobs a while ago. Many have already lined up other employment and a fair amount of veterans are able to take the severance package and enjoy some time off.

Still, as the countdown to the final edition on Dec. 31 ticks along, the remaining 50-plus newsroom employees say the "Dead Man Walking" feel about the place is somewhat surreal.

"We are working in a newsroom where any minute they could be hauling furniture away," says Tom O'Neill, an education reporter with three years at the afternoon daily. "It is also sort of jarring to get information about jobs and be pitted against each other."

The paper's demise has been known for more than three years, since Gannett Co. Inc., owners of the rival Cincinnati Enquirer, announced plans to pull out of its joint operating agreement with E.W. Scripps, the Post's owner.

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