The sixth newsroom downsize-ee: David O’Keefe
April 24, 2007 at 2:03 pm by Wayne GarciaThe last of the Tampa Tribune’s newsroom layoffs, part of 70 employees let go 
companywide, came on Monday morning. A quick buh-bye from Editor Janet Weaver and 27 years working on Parker Street was all over for illustrator and graphic artist David O’Keefe.
“It’s a long time for a two-minute handshake and a kick out the door,” he said.
Although he did all sorts of graphics for the paper, O’Keefe was best known for his wild caricatures in both drawings and sculptures, including Bob Dylan, Dubya and Bill Murray. His work had appeared on the covers of such publications as Sports Illustrated, Mad, and the Village Voice.
O’Keefe said he was called at home Sunday and told to expect the bad news. “They did say it was a financial decision, but more than anything it was just part of the plan they had to eliminate certain positions,” O’Keefe told PoHo on Tuesday. O’Keefe gets a severance package; he’s not certain what he’ll do know job-wise yet but welcomes any freelance work out there.
