As part of "wide-reaching cutbacks on a national scale at Fox Sports," the entire roster of FS Detroit sportswriters is "being let go on June 30," according to sources cited by Tony Paul of the DETROIT NEWS. The list "includes veteran baseball writer Tom Gage, who joined FSD's website in March after more than three decades at The Detroit News." FSD's website and the websites of Fox Sports' other RSNs "are expected to remain live, but there's no word what content will be featured or who will write it." Fox Sports in a statement said, "We're shifting our digital strategy away from traditional editorial to focus more on producing short-form video content, which is more closely aligned with our core sports video business." FSD Digital Content Manager Michael Happy "is expected to stay on," but he "declined comment on the situation" (DETROIT NEWS, 5/31). In Cleveland, Kevin Kleps reports the strategy shift "has resulted in the layoffs of at least three prominent writers" at FS Ohio -- columnist/Browns reporter Zac Jackson, Indians reporter Joe Reedy and Reds/Bengals reporter Kevin Goheen. Sources said that the trio on Friday was notified "that their last days would be June 30." FS Ohio PR Dir Kate Zelasko said that full-time employees at Fox' RSNs "aren’t affected by the layoffs," and added that the staffers who are losing their jobs thus far "are freelancers." She said that the RSN would not go into more detail "because it's a personnel issue" (CRAINSCLEVELAND.com, 5/31).
