This morning individuals were at offices of Advance Publications titles here in Alabama and in New Orleans learned whether they would be retained, given the opportunity to re-apply for a new position or let go as part of a restructuring announced late last month.

Weld for Birmingham first shared last night via an update to a post shared on Sunday about when employees at The Birmingham News would learn about their future with the two new companies set to form in the fall. This morning local NPR affiliate WBHM started a Storify thread to capture reactions from the digital sphere – both locally and nationally.

David Griner, himself a former intern at the Birmingham Post-Herald, Birmingham’s former afternoon daily closed by what is now known as The E.W. Scripps Company in 2005 and current vice president/director of digital content at Birmingham-based communications firm Luckie & Co., announced earlier this afternoon that he’d created a Twitter account (@ALNewsJobs) and hashtag (#alnewsjobs) to help assist those affected by the cuts locate and secure new jobs.

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/ALNewsJobs/status/212598913453146114″]

UPDATE: A Facebook group or brand page is also in the works has now launched for the grassroots effort.

While the official release – available via al.com – did not provide specifics on how many would not be retained, information being shared via social media states that at least 60 positions were cut in the newsroom here in Birmingham. It was just as severe at the Times-Picayune, where approximately 200 positions are set to be eliminated once the changes are in place this fall.

NOTE: The story has been updated to reflect that Griner interned at the paper in the 1990s and was not employed there at the time it closed in 2005.