The Chron announced yesterday that they’d shut down if they didn’t get monster concessions.  Hearst is private, though, so you never know what’s going on inside the walls.

I wonder if Chass is an exception.  I always presumed that he got a buyout from the NYT and probably had a pension or something that allows him to spend his time working on his non-blog.  There are a lot of writers, I imagine—good ones—who would have to go do something else for a living.

A lot of the layoffs for the larger papers take the form of buyouts or early retirements, so it’s a fair guess that Chass got some cushion to help him get reestablished. I hope if the Chron has to do something drastic that their sports page isn’t completely shredded. Even in this area where “webiness”-I actually saw that used yesterday-is so pronounced, there are some traditional reporters who have a lot of insight, and fat rolodexes, who might be lost to us. While we’ll still get the facts from our web sources, these guys have access to front offices, scouts, etc..that a remotely located web staff won’t have.