McClatchy Interns Get 'Wake-up Call'

Two UM interns started their jobs Monday at papers in Washington state owned by the McClatchy Co., where the big news was staff cuts.

"Boy, what a day to start my internship," wrote copy desk intern Virginia Cleaveland. "As you probably know, McClatchy announced a 10 percent companywide cut, which meant four people from the Bellingham Herald found out today that they are going to be laid off. It was a tense first day, but editor after editor kept coming up to me and apologizing and luckily no one took it out on me."

Meanwhile, down at McClatchy's News Tribune in Tacoma, Dow Jones copy desk intern Ashley Zuelke was having a similar experience.

"The News Tribune offered buyouts today to five staff members, two of whom are copy editors," Ashley wrote Monday. "To say the least, it was a weird day. I walked into the newsroom halfway through the meeting. The staff spoke in hushed tones as people were pulled into conference rooms throughout the day to discuss their severance pay. I wrote one headline and shadowed for most of my shift -- my team leader was slightly occupied. But, it was an exercise in moxie and a wake-up call that I will keep in mind for a long time."