It's impossible not to write about Zdeněk Bakala, because he keeps making the news. The latest bombshell, as reported by Mediář.cz, is that his Economia publishing house (HN, Ekonom, Respekt, etc.) is letting go 58 of its 178 permanent journalists. The sheer number raises questions about how the individual titles will be able to continue to operate. It also tends to confirm our observation that the unexpected debacle at OKD is speeding up Bakala's withdrawal from the CR (from Economia, Havel Library, Aspen Institute, etc.). It's apparently no longer merely an issue of cutting losses, but also one of cutting ties. How else to explain such a drastic decision at Economia so soon after spending Kč 200-300m on Centrum and Kč 120m on a new office building? Even if the goal is to create a lean, mean publishing machine, the effort will be negated by the growing atmosphere of gloom and uncertainty surrounding Bakala's Czech assets.