News-Record.com

My paper rode in the layoff rodeo last year and it wasn't a bit of fun. So my heart goes out to friends and colleagues in Raleigh and Charlotte who are doing it today.

Normally, I would not post business and industry news on a political blog. But I mention this here because the McClatchy papers generate a lot of the political and government content that comes out of Raleigh and is used by papers across the state. So the merging of their two state operations is of interest to just about anyone who follows politics. From the N+O's story:

The newspaper will begin a closer relationship with The Charlotte Observer, also owned by McClatchy. The two newspapers will combine their political, sports and research departments. The features departments also will produce sections jointly.

For those wanting more detail on the political operation, this comes from a memo circulated to N&O employees today:

A new McClatchy capital bureau will serve both newspapers with coverage of state government and other topics of statewide concern. Initially, this bureau will be comprised of five reporters from the N&O and two reporters from the Observer, all of whom now cover state government. Other reporters with beats that have statewide focus could join this team later. The bureau will be headed by Bill Krueger, who is now the N&O's government editor. Krueger will report jointly to N&O Senior Editor Linda Williams and Observer Deputy Managing Editor Glenn Burkins. This bureau will be based in the N&O's building, but will operate separately from its newsroom.

I'm hoping my math is correct and that means the political reporting teams for both papers will be deposited in full to the new bureau.

Update: Click here for a repasted copy of the full memo sent to newsroom employees.