ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — WFXR Sports Director Jermaine Ferrell has the latest edition of the WFXR Sports Sitdown on WFXRTV.com. Jermaine catches up with Roanoke Times UVA beat writer Doug Doughty. Doug started working at the Roanoke Times in 1974. He has covered so many events for the newspaper. Recently, Doug was told by the paper’s owners in Lee Enterprises he would be let go at the end of January. In Roanoke Times sportstwriter Doug Doughty’s 46 year career with the paper, he’s used his byline more than 15,000 times for a story. Most of them writing about Virginia Cavaliers athletics. Now, Doug has become a casualty of a number game with Roanoke Times owner Lee Enterprises. Doug says it was owner ships decision for him to leave and not his.

“Lee Enterprises purchased the Roanoke Times, the Charlottesville Daily Progress, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and I believe Martinsville as well and Danville. A bunch of papers are owned by the same company. And they are trying to make ends meet. One of the ways they are doing that is that do they need the 4 or 5 beat writers for that each of the papers have. Each of the papers had one. You would have 4 or 5 beat reporters doing UVa football. Well now with Richmond and Charlottesville being in the same chain and they have been in the same chain for years, they feel that Charlottesville can cover UVA athletics for the Roanoke Times or Richmond can do that,” said Doughty. Doug is a member of the 2018 class of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame! Doug’s last event he will cover for the Roanoke Times comes on January 30th, when Virginia takes on Virginia Tech in men’s basketball in Blacksburg.