Tough times at The Tennessean are cause for support of the many good people there

With all the difficulty that Tennessean employees have faced in waiting through a weekend over upcoming layoffs, the best thing we can do for them is to express our support and prayers.

Ten people will be laid off. News on who will be cut is expected tomorrow. Forty jobs that have gone unfilled will be eliminated.

I can only pray for the good folks there that those who are laid off will be able to navigate a trying job market in an economic recession.

When I lost my job at The Tennessean in Aug. 2007, it was one of the most difficult times of my life -- emotionally and financially. The following months brought our household close to economic ruin as my medical bills for leukemia continued to mount. So I am hoping and praying for better for my colleagues.

One thing these good people don't need is the kind of smart-ass blogging from the Nashville Scene's Pete Kotz and P.J. Tobia. If any newspaper in Nashville is the victim of the ills of corporate journalism, it is the Scene in the hiring of Kotz. That corporate decision has produced changes at the Scene that make it resemble more of a weaker version of a Gannett newspaper.

Big space has been given to tomato festivals, while Not Necessarily the News has been missing in action. The edge the Scene once possessed under Liz Murray Garrigan has been reduced to a dull blade under Kotz. The corporatization of the Scene since Garrigan left has been sad to watch.

So to my friends at The Tennessean, keep your heads up. I know you don't have good leadership there at the top, but you've made the best out of a bad situation. Your dedication to your craft is to be admired.

If any of you need any help in your transition into layoff, drop me a line, and I'll share with you what I have learned about keeping benefits as long as possible and seeking opportunities.

If anyone is setting up a fund to help those who are being laid-off, please let me know, and I'll contribute and publicize it.

Each of you and your families are in my thoughts and prayers, and those of my wife, too.