Besha Rodell OUT at Creative Loafing

The print media implosion continues: John Kessler of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Creative Loafing has let Besha Rodell go. Rodell, who has been the paper's restaurant critic for the past seven years, had also been the paper's food editor and the online editor (one of the biggest traffic sources for Creative Loafing).

Besides being one of Atlanta's most beloved food writers, Rodell has received national acclaim with awards for her writing and was even given a nod by the James Beard Foundation with a nomination in 2007.

It's a sad time for Creative Loafing. A blog post by EIC Eric Celeste reports while they're in the process of restructuring, they've also let staff writer Scott Henry, arts writer Curt Holman, and special projects director Chanté LaGon go and the entire rest of the staff has received a 5% pay cut. Much of this restructuring is due to Atalaya Capital Management, the hedge fund that owns Creative Loafing, who has felt pressure due to "increased activity from potential buyers of the Chicago Reader."

Don't expect further updates on Creative Loafing at this time. They write "Posting will be light or non-existent the rest of the day."

More as it comes in.
· Besha Rodell No Longer at Creative Loafing [AJC]
· CL Atlanta Eliminates Four Positions, Pay Reduced Companywide 5% [CL]
· All coverage of Besha Rodell [~EATL~]