He got shot during a story last year. Todd Smith, a reporter for the St. Louis Suburban Journals, was at a Kirkwood, Mo. City Council meeting last year when Cookie Thornton, who had a lawsuit against the city, shot and killed five people, then himself. Smith was shot in the hand. The coverage of the shootings made the St. Louis Post Dispatch – the Suburban Journals’ parent paper – a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Smith was laid off last Wednesday along with a bunch of other people. So no, taking a bullet won’t save your job. There goes our contingency plan. source