I’m here in Rotterdam with poor wi-fi connectivity, so that’s one reason the blog has been a little light this week. But I want to join many others in the film journalism field by noting my dismay over this week’s Variety lay-offs, which include two great writers, Mike Jones (Filmmaker‘s former Managing Editor) and Ann Thompson, whose Risky Business column was published here at Filmmaker for a couple of years. In addition to being strong writers and reporters, both are journalists who understand the internet, the blogosphere, and the specific topics and tone required to engage an online audience. It’s kind of baffling to me that the two writers I most am drawn to at Variety Online are being let go at a time in which so much journalism is having to figure out how to transition to the web.

Both writers have posted about the layoffs. You can read Jones’ comments here and, at her Thompson on Hollywood blog, Ann Thompson’s here.

They are both super-talented, so I know we’ll be hearing from both of them soon.