The East Bay Express, an alternative weekly newspaper in the Bay Area that gained national acclaim for its 2016 exposé of a police sex scandal in Oakland, Calif., laid off almost its entire editorial staff on Friday, the newspaper’s publisher said. The newspaper plans to rely on freelance writers for the foreseeable future, the publisher, Stephen Buel, said in an interview on Saturday. Six employees were laid off, including five in the editorial department. In addition to its coverage of arts and culture, the newspaper was known for local accountability journalism. Like weekly newspapers across the country, The Express, which has existed for more than 40 years, had recently been running a deficit as print advertising revenue declined, Robert Gammon, the paper’s editor, said.

Source: New York Times January 13, 2019 16:52 UTC