Livingston County’s longtime local “newspaper” has been on life support for years now, but it officially died today. They might still print a few editions in the coming months or even years, but we can now say that the Livingston Daily Press & Argus is officially dead.
The evil Gannett Corporation, which bought our local paper back in 2006 and has been systematically destroying it ever since, did a huge round of layoffs today across the country, eliminating 6% of its U.S. workforce. (Right before Christmas, in the usually classy Gannett way.)
Among the casualties was Gillis Benedict, the longtime photographer for the Press & Argus. He announced the sad news on Facebook today, writing, “I’ll work through next week, then I’m a free agent to the highest bidder. I have to say that I’ve had the privilege of working at a career that brought me pride as well as a deep connection to the community I worked in. I’m so happy to have had that opportunity.”
This was heartbreaking news to hear. It’s obviously sad for Gillis (although I’m sure he’ll soon land in a MUCH better place), and this is sad for everyone in Livingston County.
Gillis is a friend of mine and I actually helped hire him back in 2000 when I was the managing editor of the newspaper and we were just getting ready to turn the twice-weekly Livingston County Press and Brighton Argus into the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.
Gillis had been on staff at our sister papers, the South Lyon Herald and Milford Times, and when we became a daily paper, he was thrilled to join the staff. And we were thrilled to have him.
As everyone in Livingston County has seen for the past 22 years, Gillis is an extremely talented photojournalist. And as anyone who had the pleasure of working with him knows, he’s passionate about his job and passionate about his community. There are close to 200,000 people living in Livingston County, and over the past two decades, Gillis has probably taken photos of every one of us. He knows damn near everyone in the county, and everyone knows him.
We’ve all been watching the newspaper slowly die over the past 15 years or so, and I’ll admit that I’m extra bitter about it. I worked there for 26 years – from 1983 to 2009 – and I’m proud to say I was able to work with talented people like Gillis Benedict and Maria Stuart. We all helped build it into one of the best community papers in Michigan.
The paper was owned by Phil Power back then, and when he sold his empire to Gannett in 2006, the devastation began.
I was one of the first rounds of layoffs by Gannett way back in 2009, so yes, I’m a little salty when it comes to this company. I am personally in a MUCH, MUCH better place today, but it still breaks my heart to see what’s become of our paper.
We had about 21 people on the news staff back in 2000 and even when Maria and I were laid off in 2009, there were still maybe 15 or so. When you counted all the other departments – advertising, circulation, composing, the business office, the press – there were probably close to a hundred employees at the paper.
Now that Gillis is gone, the entire staff of the Livingston Daily Press & Argus is down to maybe three or four people. Total. That’s it.
We’ve all watched the paper dying, and personally, I’ve been watching all the people I used to work with leaving through the years. Some of them left voluntarily for better jobs and better lives, and far too many of them left via layoff. It’s a sucky way to end a job.
But through the years, I always took solace knowing that Gillis had somehow survived. I loved the fact that at least one guy I had worked with back in the day was still there – still working at the Livingston Daily Press & Argus. This was a real-life game of “Survivor,” and Gillis had far outlasted everyone else. The second-to-last person I worked with left maybe five or six years ago.
But Gillis had survived. Until today.
And then there were none.
So this is a historically sad day for all of Livingston County. The last person who worked for the paper back when it was owned by Phil Power is now gone. The last person I worked with back when I was a journalist there is now gone.
I’m sad for Gillis, but I know he’ll land on his feet in a much better place very soon. He’s too talented and too good. And if he needs a job reference, he has about 200,000 of us who would be willing to write one.
But this sucks for Livingston County. The local paper is now officially dead.
