Mason, Roth axed by Houston Chronicle

The Houston daily told its staff yesterday that voluntary buyouts didn't meet its budget-cutting goals so 10 newsroom employees were laid off.

Among the casualties: Julie Mason and Bennett Roth in the D.C. bureau, which is now down to three reporters. (There used to 10 not so long ago.)

Among the non-newsroom casualties is Elizabeth Clancy, who worked in editorial marketing & media relations, we heard.

UPDATE:
“The reasoning was they want to focus more resources on Houston,” said Mason, who’s worked at the paper 19 years (and in D.C. since 2001). [Politico.com].

UPDATE 2:
More names of the recently departed from Houston's daily