What Tha Fuck Is Up Wit da New Source?

Originally Posted by sohh.com

As it continues to struggle in the post-Raymond "Benzino" Scott era, The Source magazine reportedly let go of half of its staff late last week.

News recently spread that the self-proclaimed "hip-hop bible" terminated three employees last week, including its editor-in-chief, Fayhim Ratcliffe.

"You have to understand the editorial staff at that point was like five people," Chloe Hilliard, the publication's former News Editor, told SOHH.com, responding to rumors that The Source fired its entire editorial department. "I didn't see that coming at all. The reason they told them is budget cuts. You have a five-person staff. Why would you sacrifice the editor-in-chief and not have an editorial presence in New York at all?"

According to Hilliard, The Source is now left with two Los Angeles-based editors and an Art Director in New York. Hilliard herself, left the publication shortly before the lay off. She is now focusing on her own web site, Journalisticks.com, an online community for African American journalists, which launches on Thursday (March 1).

"I left because it was time for me to go. I had done everything I could have done," Hilliard explained. "I just decided that I wanted to leave. I'm launching my own web site."

Though she admits that the budget was "very, very tight," don't expect her to bash her former employer. She believes that the mag's content was moving in the right direction.

"That's the sad thing about this whole situation. People have been focusing on the lack of focus and lack of ads," Hilliard offered. "The content improved immensely while they were there. When the book is 96 pages, that's what people focus on."

Representatives for The Source had no comment at publishing time.