Taking a bullet on the job doesn't guarantee job security

The newspaper business is in such bad financial shape that winning a Pulitzer Prize, or being shot while out reporting, didn't lead to job security for some journalists.

Todd Smith was laid off at the Suburban Journals, a chain of newspapers outside St. Louis and owned by Lee Enterprises, on April 15 -- about a year after he was shot while covering a city council meeting in Kirkwood, Mo., according to a New York Times story.

A gunman with a grudge stormed City Hall on Feb. 7, 2008, killing six people before he was killed by police. When the gunman aimed toward Smith, the reporter raised his hand in a reflexive, shielding gesture, and a bullet tore through his hand and grazed his chest. After two surgeries, he has permanent damage that limits the use of his thumb. He was the only person shot that night in Kirkwood who survived.