Some 50 photographers, reporters, and other bylined journalists at The Morning Call's plucky sister-paper The Baltimore Sun held a one-day byline strike yesterday to protest the firing of 61 newsroom staffers last week. Here is today's no-byline front page.

The paper's newsroom has gone from 420 employees in 1999 when they were aquired by Tribune to 148 after last week's surpise downsizing. Those laid off included 18 top and mid-level editors, news photographers, critics, columnists, sports reporters, copy editors, page designers and graphic artists.

According to the Newspaper Guild, some "were fired while they were in the midst of writing and editing stories. Others were told to pack up their belongings immediately, and others were escorted out of the main newspaper building by security guards."

Orange County Register reporter Bill Plunkett blogged the Sun's layoffs during the eighth inning of an Orioles/Angels game last Wednesday: 

"Angels 3, Orioles 2.

(Tough times in the newspaper biz. Two writers for the Baltimore Sun in the press box here got the news — by phone during the game — that they had been laid off in the latest round of cost-cutting. Stay classy, Baltimore Sun management.)

(UPDATE: Make that three reporters and a photographer axed by the Sun during the game.)"

The next day, an inside source told dcrtv.com: "Greetings from inside the tomb, where you can hear the air conditioning running. There may be life on other planets, but I can safely report that there's no life at the Sun. Certain people are running around in a self-important way, giving orders and avoiding eye contact. Security guards - not the ones we know - pretend to be casually passing though the newsroom. A muffin and a Mountain Dew sit on Ray Frager's desk, just where he left them when he was called in to be fired Tuesday night. AME-level editors were writing cutlines and headlines last night because no one thought that you actually need people to do those jobs. Welcome to the Sun, where no one can hear you scream".....