An interesting article from Randall Bezanson and Gilbert Cranberg of Editor and Publisher who assert that of all the cut backs currently taking place at US newspapers, the most damaging are the staff lay offs.

The authors state that "editorial staff is a legally risky place for a news corporation to economize." The argument is that lay offs may lead to staff shortages and sloppy reporting and sloppy reporting to libel cases. "If reporters in a shorthanded newsroom must scramble to fill space so that they have insufficient time to verify their work, or if overloaded editors cannot adequately supervise newsroom staff", the result will be "flawed" stories.

The article goes on to discuss how newspapers are prosecuted in libel cases stating that normally it is "reporters and editors who are grilled in depositions, whose every step is scrutinized and who are considered at fault for defamatory falsehoods." In the present US media climate, Bezanson and Cranberg feel that what would be far fairer would be that CEO's and publishers be "interrogated about their role in the editorial process."

The authors conclude that "when newspaper company executives, perhaps mindful how stock analysts will regard the next quarterly results, set budgets that create serious risk of shoddy journalism, victims of that journalism deserve an opportunity to fix the blame where it belongs."

Source: Editor and Publisher