Employees at Montana’s largest newspaper chain say they’re seeing layoffs at papers across the state.

The union for newsroom employees of the Billings Gazette announced on April 7 that six of their members had been laid off by Lee Enterprises. In a statement, the Montana News Guild said they were “devastated” by the cuts.

The union criticized the layoffs and pointed at the earnings of Lee’s top executive officers, who are compensated over a million dollars a year and received a raise in 2022.

How America’s largest newspaper company Gannett is leaving behind news deserts

I see a lot more uncovered city council meetings. I see a lot more corruption that doesn’t get noticed. I see a lot more uninformed voters, more people who take their cues for how they view their government from national media and the politicized world there as opposed to their local government. There certainly are bright spots. There are green shoots going up, but the challenge is just very difficult.