Fundraiser launched to support fired Boulder Weekly staff

BOULDER — A fundraiser has been launched to support former editorial and production staff at Boulder Weekly, who were reportedly fired without warning Tuesday.

“On Tuesday, July 8, the entire editorial and production staff of Boulder Weekly were abruptly fired without notice and without cause,” according to a message on the MightyCause online fundraiser page titled “Help fired Boulder Weekly workers.” “None of these employees were high-earning enough to live without a paycheck on such short notice.”

Funds raised “will be available to all impacted employees, with priority being given to the lowest-earning (and therefore the highest need),” the message said.

As of late Friday morning, the campaign had raised nearly $2,500.

The circumstances surrounding the job cuts at Boulder Weekly are unclear, as is the future of the three-decades-old alternative newspaper.

Boulder Weekly’s former editor Shay Castle was fired July 2 “(a)fter months of protest and increasing tensions over current ownership practices,” she wrote on a LinkedIn post last week. 

The paper’s owner Stewart Sallo did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BizWest.

The most recent story posted to Boulder Weekly’s website is dated July 2 and was bylined by Castle, who, in a text message to BizWest, said that she is “incredibly sad” about ownership’s decision. “This community deserved better, and so did the employees.”

In a LinkedIn post Tuesday, Castle wrote that the “entire team of Boulder Weekly was fired today, save the special projects manager and bookkeeper. (I don’t know the fate of the two ad sales folks who are paid on commission, or the distribution manager and drivers: None were aware this was happening. Fired staff informed them.)” 

The post continued: “Apparently, the owner was already in talks last week with someone to sell or salvage what he can. While the Weekly might live on in some form, it will likely be without the team that made the paper what it was these past few years.”

Share on Facebook on LinkedIn