Today, @ThePlainDealer laid off 22 journalists, including 18 members of @PDNewsGuild. More could be gone in the weeks to come. https://www.facebook.com/ThePlainDealerNewsGuild/posts/3324511077576756 (1)

We are profoundly disappointed and ashamed that the company laid off every black woman on our staff, leaving a massive gap in knowledge and experience in our newsroom. Our staff is now 81% white, in a city that is 47% black. It is unacceptable. (2)

The layoffs come at a time when our members have been working tirelessly to bring essential local news to the community, writing human-focused stories about the coronavirus pandemic. (3)

Together, the laid off journalists represent more than 500 years of journalism experience, much of it in Northeast Ohio. Our newsroom — and Cleveland — will never be the same without them. (4)

The list of our laid off brothers and sisters includes journalists who for decades have filled The Plain Dealer with important stories. We are sharing the names of members who gave us permission. (5)

We also lost editors and designers who worked largely behind the scenes to make our work better, including Melodie Smith, a calm and compassionate editor who made every story better, and Joel Downey, who was a jack of all trades, juggling complicated graphics and design work. (6)

Our unit now has 14 members, managed by two nonunion editors. Yet PD Editor Tim Warsinskey, in his column on the layoff announcement, boasted that The Plain Dealer and http://cleveland.com  would “have 77 journalists covering stories that matter to Northeast Ohio." (7)

Of the 77 journalists covering NEO for the company, only 16 remain at the PD & only 14 of those are union members. Since 2013, Advance has methodically cut the number of journalists in the Guild-represented PD newsroom, while boosting its non-union newsroom. (8)

The company claimed financial struggle but on Thursday Advance, the PD's parent co., made a $730-million all-cash deal for The Ironman sports group. This reveals yet again, the company has not been forthcoming & underscores how little it values its staff, readers & Cleveland. (9)

We mourn what this gutting of our newsroom means for Northeast Ohio and all of the stories that will not be told. When local journalism loses, so too does the community. (10)