The Denver Post has lost a large number of staff members due to extreme job cuts mostly to increase benefits to the corporate owner’s bottom line.

The newspaper now has 30 percent fewer jobs than it had before, which hurts the quality of journalism and the Denver community. 

Without passionate contributions from writers, editors and photographers, the quality of any newspaper will suffer. Without having people who are willing to produce relevant content, people will no longer appreciate the significance of the newspaper process since most people prefer what is quick and easy. 

The newspaper is what advocates the importance of a community and draws everyone together, because if it was not for the reported information that keeps everyone updated, the sense of community would be lost. 

The Denver Post has made many job cuts over the years, but once 2018 arrived, the job market trickled down tremendously, and overall its staff was reduced from 250 people to fewer than 100 people. 

“The Denver Post currently has 90 people in its newsroom,” according to the Denver Business Journal. 

What is concerning about the drop in jobs is that now everyone who had only one job to do may have two or three jobs to do, due to the job cuts that took place. 

The Denver Post is showing all of Colorado and the rest of the world that there is a lack of value in journalism. We are living in a time in which everyone wants instant content, where they are not even caring about quality due to their lack of patience. If people want quality news, they must be willing to take the time and invest in it. 

It is unfortunate but “25 of the positions cut will be jobs represented by the Denver Newspaper Guild union and five from newsroom management positions. 

By April 9, 25 of the positions will have been cut, and the remaining five eliminated by July 1,” according to the Denver Business Journal. 

The Denver Post is owned by a Denver-based media news group, Digital First Media which is also controlled by the New York hedge fund, Alden Golden Capital. 

Under Capital’s control, “Digital First Media newspapers have steadily cut jobs to maintain profitability as advertising has increasingly transitioned from print to cheaper digital formats, or newspapers altogether,” according to the Denver Business Journal. 

If there are not any managers in the newsroom and most of the jobs are being stripped away, that means control and principle will be lost from the newsroom. 

Most of the journalism will be syndicated content that has nothing to do with benefiting the quality of the community by publishing watered down content that will keep people satisfied for the time being. 

A lack of reporters in the community will hurt the paper’s ability to perform watchdog journalism. Public meetings will be missed and those in power cannot be held accountable. Good deeds and poor decisions will not be communicated to the local community.

The management of the Denver Post must think about how many lives it is affecting, especially those who enjoy reading the newspaper and appreciate weekly updates on what’s going on in the community. 

The Slate staff is appreciative of The Denver Post standing up for its purpose and production, which takes a lot of courage. 

The staff is especially appreciative of the Shippensburg University community and Student Government Association, because not all newspapers are as lucky as The Slate to have students that value the principles of journalism, and most importantly, values keeping the community unified and properly informed. 

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