Roll Call Lays Off 44 Workers From Merged Newsroom

A deal that united two publications focused on Congress and its political battles is sending more reporters and editors to the nation’s unemployment line.

The joint owner of the Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call reduced the combined newsroom staff by nearly 20 percent Thursday, laying off 44 people.

The cuts are an offshoot of The Economist Group’s acquisition of Congressional Quarterly for an undisclosed price last month from the Times Publishing Co. in Florida, which publishes the St. Petersburg Times and is owned by the nonprofit Poynter Institute.

The Economist Group already owned Roll Call, creating a situation in which too many people were doing similar jobs or covering the same topics. The overlap dictated the layoffs, said Laurie Battaglia, the executive overseeing the combined operations.

Read More: By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP

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