Lowell Tribune, Cedar Lake Journal lay off five employees

BY MELANIE CSEPIGA, Times of Northwest Indiana Correspondent

LOWELL | The financial struggles of newspapers in a stagnant economy are touching weekly papers in Lowell and Cedar Lake, where layoffs are happening for the first time, a production manager at the papers said.

"We're not closing the doors," said Matt Pilcher, production manager of Pilcher Publishing Co., of rumors that the Lowell Tribune and Cedar Lake Journal would no longer be operating.

Pilcher, whose business is based at 116-118 Clark St. in Lowell, said he supposed the rumors began after five employees, most part-time, were laid off.

"This paper has never had to let people go in any numbers before," he said. "It was very difficult...The whole country's letting people go."

The company, a family-based business established in 1961 which also publishes the South Lake Advertiser, now has eight employees plus contributors to the newspapers' content, Pilcher said.

Print media companies across the nation have been struggling as advertising dollars shrink during the economic downturn.