Paper Cuts Tracks Layoffs and Closures

(MoneyWatch)  Every industry in crisis needs a good Obit site and since 2007 the newspaper industry has had one -- Paper Cuts by Erica Smith. She uses Google Maps to graphically track layoffs, buyouts, and the eventual closures of newspapers around the U.S.
Smith has been able to document at least 26,075 layoffs and buyouts during the present crisis -- 2,112+ in '07, 15,866+ in '08, and 8,097+ already this year. Her numbers are conservative because, increasingly, newspapers are not announcing job reductions, leaving those of us covering the industry to fend for ourselves.

In 2009, according to Smith, there have already been 89 newspaper closures (some of these papers have migrated to web-only) by 64 publishers. The soundtrack as you read this list should be Taps:

1. Algonquin Countryside, Cary-Grove Countryside and Wauconda Courier
2. American Fork Citizen, Lehi Free Press, Lone Peak Press, Orem Times and Pleasant Grove Review
3. Ann Arbor News
4. Arlington Heights Post, Elk Grove Times, Hoffman Estates Review, Palatine Countryside, Rolling Meadows Review, Schaumburg Review and Wheeling Countryside
5. AsianWeek
6. Baltimore Examiner
7. The Bethel Beacon, The Brookfield Journal, The Kent Good Times Dispatch and The Litchfield Enquirer
8. Bloomfield Free Press
9. Bloomfield Journal, Windsor Journal, Windsor Locks Journal
10. Carson Times
11. Christian Science Monitor
12. Coatesville Ledger
13. The Daily Reporter
14. Dakota Journal
15. The Democrat
16. Dennis Pennysaver and Yarmouth Pennysaver
17. Des Plaines Times and Mount Prospect Times
18. Donegal Ledger
19. Douglas Times
20. Downingtown Ledger
21. Doylestown Patriot
22. East Bridgewater Star, West Bridgewater Times and Whitman Times
23. East Hartford Gazette
24. East Iowa Herald
25. Elizabethtown Chronicle
26. Fallon Star Press
27. Gazette Advertiser
28. Germantown Courier and Mount Airy Times Express
29. Hanson Town Crier
30. Hardee Sun
31. Harlem Valley Times, Millbrook Round Table, Voice Ledger
32. The Hershey Chronicle
33. Hill Country View
34. Hyde Park Townsman
35. The Independent
36. Iraan News
37. The Journal-Messenger
38. Kansas City Kansan
39. LA City Beat
40. Lake Norman Times
41. Lakota Journal
42. Maricopa Tribune
43. McCamey News
44. Ming Pao New York
45. Ming Pao San Francisco
46. New Hope Gazette
47. The Newton Record
48. Northern Star
49. Oak Cliff Tribune
50. Oxford Tribune, Parkesburg Post Ledger and Solanco Sun Ledger
51. Pawling News Chronicle
52. Petoskey Citizen-Journal
53. Plymouth Bulletin
54. Putnam County Courier
55. Quakertown Free Press
56. Register Herald
57. The Rockingham News
58. Rocky Mountain News
59. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
60. The Town Meeting
61. Tucson Citizen
62. Vail Sun
63. Valley Journal
64. The Weekly Almanac

I have only been able to cover a handful of these closures in detail. They are happening so quickly (and relatively quietly) That even I am shocked to survey the extent of the destruction. We'll check back with Paper Cuts from time to time to catch up on the latest obits.