Update: 01-02-2009/01-03-2009 PITCH LAYS OFF STAFFERS TO START '09 The Pitch, Kansas City's alternative weekly, will ring in the new year with fewer staffers, according to KC's most-read blogger, Tonyskansascity. The Pitch is part of the Village Voice Media conglomerate. "It is obvious to anyone involved with the local media that the (Kansas City) Star's new 'Ink' publication has drained revenues from the Pitch," said a source close to the situation. "They are both target the same kind of alternative readers and there simply aren't enough ad dollars to go around." Tony lists the names of staffers Jen Chen, Lorna Perry and Charles Ferruzza as ones who have been let go. We have also been told that Chris Packham was given the boot. Pitch editor C.J. Janovy wrote an "Editor's Note" (1/2) addressing the cutbacks without mentioning specific names. In essence, she blamed George Bush for her magazine's troubles and also gave a back-hand to the Kansas City Star in the process. "Here at The Pitch, we'd avoided much of the bloodletting like that at the Star," wrote Janovy. "We've always been lean -- we didn't have room to mess with stories about how to organize closets, we didn't have the luxury of wasting beats, and we could never afford inflated sports writers dragging down our budgets. Also unlike the dailies, our papers have always been free." The most stunning name mentioned was Ferruzza, who is an award-winning food critic and an icon in Kansas City media circles. He spent 15 years as the Features Editor at the Sun before joining the Pitch several years ago. The affable Ferruzza has written restaurant reviews for a number of local and national publications (under a variety of names!) and hosts a radio show on KKFI-FM. He is so popular a local blogger has even written a great poem about him: http://www.kcmeesha.com/2009/01/02/ferruzza-less/ While Ferruzza's employment status may have changed at the Pitch, we can confirm that he will continue to write weekly restaurant reviews for the publication.
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