The CEO of The American Independent News Network announced plans this week to cease publication of most of the network’s state-based sites. That appears to include the Iowa Independent blog, a fixture on the Iowa political blogosphere since early 2007.

Lynda Waddington published this open letter to readers on Thursday:

The Iowa team, which was most recently comprised of Andrew Duffelmeyer and me, learned Wednesday of the shift described by [David] Bennahum. Duffelmeyer, who began his tenure with us only a few weeks ago and I cannot praise enough for being a wonderful co-worker and talented and hard-working journalist, was let go. As I’ve already told him personally, I wish I had more to offer than my condolences.

As for me, I have a decision to make by the close of business on Friday. The decision, as it was explained to me, is not one of will I stay or will I go, but is centered on the timing of my departure. Regardless of my decision, the practical future of The Iowa Independent and the content archive that so many amazing journalists have contributed to for almost the past five years is out of my control. […]

I don’t yet know what my decision will be or, if I’m completely honest, if such a decision will continue to exist once I publish this post.

As has happened before, I have absorbed the emotional devastation that surrounds me, and all I really know is that I need to sit on the curb for a little while and make some sense of it before I can be of any help to anyone else.

Between now and Monday, maybe I’ll figure it out. If so, posts will resume here without another mention from me of what’s happened. If not … well, I want to thank you for taking my calls, answering my emails and, above all else, reading. I will forever be grateful for the journey and the people along the way.

No new stories have been posted on the site since Waddington’s letter appeared. It sounds as if we’ve seen the last original reporting from Iowa Independent. The timing is unfortunate, coming so close to the Iowa caucuses.

Iowa Independent has been one of my daily stops since its inception. My sympathy goes out to Waddington, Duffelmeyer, and the many other reporters who lost their jobs at American Independent-affiliated sites. Having once been “downsized” from a job I loved, at which I worked hard, I know it’s a painful experience.

I hope the Iowa Independent archives will remain accessible. I particularly admired Waddington’s reporting on the 2008 immigration raid in Postville and its aftermath. Other highlights from the blog include reports from presidential candidate events in 2007 and 2011, many detailed stories about coal ash disposal, and solid coverage of the 2010 egg recall. The occasional campaign finance-related stories were informative too. For instance, Waddington discussed here how owners of the company at the center of the 2010 salmonella outbreak financed election campaigns against tougher egg production regulations. This Jason Hancock piece on Tom Latham’s PAC spending was a classic too.

Share your own thoughts about Iowa Independent here, or anything else on your mind this weekend. This is an open thread.

P.S. Anyone go to the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Saturday night? I skipped the event this year because I didn’t feel like spending money to hear a keynote speaker (Rahm Emanuel) who has contempt for Democrats like me. I saw that the state party denied former State Representative Ed Fallon press credentials to cover the event for his radio talk show, Fallon Forum. Fallon has never been popular with party leaders, especially since he challenged Representative Leonard Boswell in the 2008 Democratic primary to represent Iowa’s third Congressional district.