Pink slip diaries*

Both LA Observed and TellZell are fleshing out the backgrounds of the recently laid-off/bought-out Times employees. One of those on the list is Mark Masek, who left his job as news editor of the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group prior to the layoffs there only to get caught in the drag net at the LA Times. Masek tells his own story about getting laid off over at TZ. Here's a snippet:

There were lots of hushed conversations around cubicles and in hallways, and supportive and sympathetic handshakes and hugs. (And some people who seemed to be avoiding eye contact, either because they didn’t know what to say, or they thought that the layoffs might somehow be contagious.) And some questions about who would end up suffering more – the people who are leaving or the people left behind. And, of course, most people were checking the relevant blogs to see if there was any new information.

*Also, I knew Kevin Bronson had worked at the Pasadena Star-News but failed to mention it in my earlier post. Here's a snippet about his departure from LA Observed:

Kevin Bronson, deputy editor of the discontinued weekly section The Guide, was at the Times for 18 years — as an an assistant sports editor and a designer before The Guide. He wrote 250 Buzz Band columns covering the music scene and started the paper's first music blog. News of his layoff has brought him some nice kudos at LAist and other blogs. "The ones left behind face a tough road," he emails. "I was sports editor at the Star-News in 1989 when Singleton swooped in -- it was bad then, especially since the world was younger, and it was not a time of rampant slash-and-burn. But this is worse."