Janet Hasson Fires Caryn McBride

The Rockland County Times has learned that Rockland County Chief Editor Caryn McBride is among the casualties of the recent purge of 17 journalists  and 26 total staffers at the Gannett-owned Journal News newspaper.

McBride gained fame earlier this year for her involvement in the Journal News gun map fiasco. Police reports indicated McBride had called the Clarkstown Police Department to notify them of torrents of angry phone calls and letters the newspaper received following the publication of the map.

The Rockland editor said she felt threatened by the complaints, but local police did not agree a credible threat against the safety of employees of the newspaper existed. Unsatisfied, McBride and other executives decided to hire armed guards to protect their property, causing an uproar due to the perceived hypocrisy of the avowed anti-gun editors hiring gun-toting men.

The decision to lay off McBride was made by Journal News Publisher and CEO Janet Hasson. The fate of  Editor-in-Chief CynDee Royle and other editors that approved the gun map have not been made public. McBride had been with the newspaper approximately three years.

Layoffs took place company-wide for the Journal News parent Gannett. There is no indication the gun map played a role in the layoffs, however the controversy may have had an effect on the Journal News’ bottom line as multitudes of subscribers bailed on the daily paper.