Freedom's bonus pool

Nick Martin, formerly a reporter at the former East Valley Tribune in Arizona (just shut down by parent company Freedom Communications), has some not-so-complimentary revelations about the 68K in extra pay that Tribune publisher Julie Moreno received over the last two years That includes, according to Martin, 28K just seven days before she told staffers that they would have to take a week off without pay as a "preemptive strike" to prevent future layoffs. From Heat City:

The March bonus capped off $65,456 in total extra pay for Moreno, who already was being paid a salary of about $190,000. Her bonuses all came within three months of the January layoffs of about 140 people from her newspaper. As she did on Monday, Moreno at the time blamed the layoffs on the failing financial state of the industry.

Martin discloses his connection to the story at the end of the piece, though he's clearly not the one who should be reporting this story. Too bad because it looks like there's some stuff here worth looking into. No comment from Freedom, which is also the parent of the OC Register - and in bankruptcy protection.