Mark Hinojosa, the Associate Managing Editor for Multimedia for the Chicago Tribune was one of more than 40 employees to get pink-slipped today. Mark, the first editor to be named AME for Multimedia at the Tribune, was in charge of development and distribution of stories across different media and helped guide the integration of print and web newsrooms.
Ray Quintanilla, a staff reporter for the past 14 years at the paper, was also let go. He told Richard Prince: “It’s sad because if you look at the list, it’s heavily minority. It looks bad.” Could there be something to his departure? He apparently had an argument with another columnist the day before, addressing diversity in hiring practices.
Michael Martinez, a national correspondent and the Los Angeles bureau chief was also bid adieu. Since he joined the Chicago Tribune in 1990, he’s been a war correspondent in Afghanistan and Iraq. He moved to L.A. in 2003, where he’s covered immigration, environment, politics and the entertainment industry.
Last week, more than 30 journalists left voluntarily. According to the Tribune, that brings the editorial cuts up to 80 after today’s layoffs. This is the fourth round of cutbacks since late 2005. At the time, the newsroom reportedly had 670 positions. As of today, that number stands at 480.
