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Credit: Sacramento Bee
The final three sports journalists on the Sacramento Bee staff were axed this week as part of wide-ranging layoffs by its hedge fund-owned parent company, McClatchy.
The McClatchy layoffs affected dozens of local newspapers across the U.S., but the cuts at the Bee are particularly devastating for sports fans in the city, which currently hosts two pro sports teams. McClatchy laid off Kings beat reporter Jason Anderson, 49ers beat reporter Chris Biderman, and high school sports reporter Joe Davidson.
The Bee had alsocovered the Athletics, who played in Sacramento ahead of their move to Las Vegas in 2028.
Each laid-off journalist addressed the Sacramento community on social media.
“Tough day,” Davidson wrote on X. “After 38 years at The Sacramento Bee, I was part of sweeping company layoffs. My last day is Oct. 9. I love my job & my role in the community. I thank coaches, athletes, media & especially readers & followers.”
“I was born and raised in Sacramento. Went to school every day with The Bee’s sports section in my back pocket,” Anderson wrote. “Covering the Kings was always my dream job. All I wanted to do was cover this team for this newspaper and this community.”
“Getting the job on the 49ers beat to start was a dream come true,” Biderman wrote. ” Covering sports around town was so fulfilling because of the readers and their hunger for sports.”
The New York Times reported that as many as 90 positions were eliminated by McClatchy this week, including more than 30 at the Miami Herald.
Local newspapers have hemorrhaged subscribers and resources for decades. Investment firms like McClatchy have exacerbated these issues, gutting these outlets to maximize profit while coverage and accountability wane.
Sports is often one of the first departments to be cut, as exemplified earlier this year by the Washington Post. But as sports becomes a bigger and more significant part of the American economy and society, holding owners and other sports leaders to account is more important than ever.