The 100-year-old News-Sentinel laid off almost all of its remaining staff Friday afternoon.
According to news reports and social media reports by former staff members, the paper will use only freelancers and occasional editorial content, emptying a newsroom that once bustled with activity.
The paper was sold by the Foellinger family to the Knight-Ridder corporation in 1980. The staff won a Pulitzer in 1983 for its coverage of a local flood that nearly destroyed parts of Fort Wayne.
In early 2006, the paper was sold to McClatchy and then a few months later to its current owner.
Ten months ago the News-Sentinel largely ceased print production, opting to only publish online at news-sentinel.com.
The afternoon newspaper is one of two currently serving the Fort Wayne community. It operates in a federally-controlled joint operating agreement with the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, still locally owned by the Inskeep family and published in the morning.
The News-Sentinel has been owned by West Virginia-based Ogden Newspapers for the last few years.
As of Friday evening, the newspaper had yet to report on its own restructuring, but newly-laid off journalists took to social media to express their shock and sadness at the news.
