At the top of this montage are artists’ renditions of just a few of the many people who no longer work at the BJ.

Identified so far:

TOP ROW Marilyn Miller, ???, ???,  Carol Leibowitz, ???, ???

THIRD ROW Paula Schleis, ???, Dave Scott, Olga Reswow, Bob Downing

SECOND ROW ???, ???, Rich Heldenfels, Ed Meyer, Bill Lilley, Jewell Cardwell, Linda Omobien, Colette Jenkins Parker.

FIRST ROW Dennis Gordon, Kim Hone McMcMahan, Phil Trexler, Bob DeMay, Larry Pantages.

At the bottom of the montage is a photo taken a few years ago of  BJ photographers gathered at the home of Ott Gangl. Today, Phil Masturzo is the only one still working at Ol’ Blue Walls.

In 2001 the BJ lost more than 500 years of experience in one day.

In 2006 the BJ shed 42 staff members to save $2.3 million a year. On one day 24 left with 335 years of BJ service.

In 2008 there were 18 departures with 273 years of BJ service.

Since 2001, the BJ has lost more than 2,000 years of newspaper experience.

In 2009 newspaper layoffs soared to 12,840 unwanted employees.

In 2012 alone there were 1,859 newspaper jobs eliminated in America, including 600 in one day by Advance Publications in New Orleans and Alabama.

When I retired from the BJ in 1996 there were nearly 200 in the newsroom. Today, there are fewer than 65 in the entire building.

Are newspaper employees on their way to becoming an extinct species?

What does that portend for democracy in America if there is no one to keep the political and business foxes from pillaging the henhouse.