A dozen staffers, including former ME, leaving BusinessWeek

A dozen staff members of BusinessWeek, including former managing editor Mark Morrison, are leaving the magazine, according to the Romenesko web site. Except for Morrison, who is retiring, the rest are being laid off.

The Romenesko site stated, “BusinessWeek communications director Kimberly Quinn responds to Romenesko’s inquiry about layoffs: ‘There will be a reduction of 12 employees across administration, editorial and editorial production in order to enhance BusinessWeek’s long-term prospects and adapt to a changing marketplace.'”

Editor Stephen Adler’s memo, which did not mention the layoffs, about Morrison, who is retiring after 32 years at the magazine, stated that the former ME was going to teach at the Univesity of Texas, his alma mater. Adler wrote, “Mark not only distinguished himself as a journalist but as a straight-shooting, clear-thinking mentor to hundreds of BusinessWeek staffers, past and present. Please join me in thanking Mark for his many extraordinary contributions to BusinessWeek and wishing him all the best in the classroom and on the golf course.”

Morrison was a candidate for the editor’s job when Stephen Shepard retired back in 2005. However, the job went to Adler, a Wall Street Journal editor, and Morrison was moved out of the ME spot. He had been ME for more than a decade, and he had also worked in the Chicago bureau.

Read the memo here. Having worked for Morrison during my time at BusinessWeek and watching him talk with my UNC students when they visited New York during Spring Break, I can state that this is a loss for the publication and for business journalism.