San Luis Obispo Tribune cancels endorsements
September 20, 2026
By KAREN VELIE
The San Luis Obispo Tribune will not be making candidate endorsements this year because of recent layoffs, according to opinion editor Stephanie Finucane.
On Sept. 10, McClatchy made deep cuts to newsrooms throughout the United States, including laying off five journalists who were working for the San Luis Obispo Tribune. The layoffs included three reporters, one photographer and opinion editor Stephanie Finucane.
On Friday afternoon, Finucane emailed local candidates to inform them the paper would not be making endorsements.
“As you may have heard, there have been several layoffs at McClatchy newspapers,” Finucane wrote. “The entire California opinion team, including me, was laid off effective Sept. 25. For that reason, we will not be going ahead with endorsements, as there will not be time to interview all candidates throughout the county and then write up our decisions.”
As part of a restructuring plan due to falling revenue, McClatchy cut journalists from papers throughout the country. In California, McClatchy cut 10 reporters at the Sacramento Bee and seven journalists at the Fresno Bee.
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