Welcome to America, 2012…

WOW this shit is lowdown and cowardly.  Via Romenesko:

The Kansas City Star has told reporters Karen Dillon and Dawn Bormann that one of them has to leave the paper, and they — not management — have to decide who goes.

“Dillon has seniority, so she has the option of taking it or not taking it,” says a KCConfidential.com source. “And if she does, Dawn gets laid off. Dawn’s a great person but I think Karen will vote in favor of herself because she’s got teenage kids at home.”

I emailed the two reporters and editor Mike Fannin to confirm this process. Dillon did — I haven’t heard back from Fannin and Bormann — and tells Romenesko readers that “we’ve not made an official decision” on who gets to stay. “It’s one of the most difficult situations I’ve ever faced.”

Since the original story was posted, it’s been announced that Dawn Bormann is the one out of a job.

As Jim Romenesko points out, as a young reporter, Karen Dillon had the scoop on Paul Reubens’ 1991 arrest at a porn theater in Florida