AJC buyout list official - 74 to leave

Despite the presence of some very well-informed rumors, I’d held off running the list of editorial staffers who were presumed to be taking the latest round of newsroom buyouts at the AJC. Frankly, I expected Editor Julia Wallace to release the official list at any moment, and I didn’t want to post any erroneous information in the meantime. Well, the list of 74 names was released a short while ago and, sure enough, it contains many familiar bylines. (Full list after jump.)

Star lifestyle writer Jim Auchmutey will be leaving. So will star war correspondent Moni Basu — perhaps not surprising since the AJC’s days of sending reporters abroad seems to be over. The paper also appears to be clearing house of its arts critics: visual arts critic Cathy Fox, theater critic Wendell Brock and classical music critic Pierre Ruhe, as well as Sonia Murray, who writes about the hip-hop scene.

But the buyouts haven’t been the only news from Marietta Street in the past few days. On Friday, the newspaper eliminated its news art department — the folks who produced the graphics and illustrations that accompany articles — laying off the four remaining employees. Also receiving pink slips was the entire news research staff, which likewise included four or five people. Oddly, however, we understand that reporters have not yet been told they no longer have a research department.