Trimming around the edges

The latest round of layoffs announced at The Washington Times -- mainly in the features department, including Shelley Widhalm, who often volunteered to do Culture Etc. stories.

With Ken Hanner axed last week, Chris Dolan gets promoted all the way from assistant national editor to an assistant managing editor slot. Guess John Solomon felt he had to let Hanner go, if he was going to promote Dolan over his head.

These won't be the last of the layoffs. So far, they've only been trimming around the edges -- no layoffs announced yet on the national, foreign, business or copy desks. Cuts there are inevitable, if they're serious about profitability.

Obviously, I remain "extremely gloomy" about the future of journalism.