Gannett To Cut 1,000 Newspaper Jobs Across The US

Reuters:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Gannett Co Inc plans to eliminate 1,000 positions from its local newspapers around the U.S. because of declining advertising and circulation revenue, and may cut more if those conditions persist.

The largest U.S. newspaper publisher said the cuts equal about 3 percent of the positions in its Community Publishing unit, according to a memo obtained by Reuters on Thursday. The unit accounts for the vast majority of the company's newspapers, except for USA Today.

About 600 people probably will be laid off as part of the cuts, the memo said. The remaining cuts will come from retirements, resignations and other vacancies that will go unfilled.

Gannett, which is based in McLean, Virginia, sent the undated memo to publishers of its more than 80 community newspapers, asking them to notify employees by August 15.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[Bozwellian]

We've actually had fewer "news" sources for quite sometime..­.Have few recognized that if flicking thru the on air channels or print pages that get tagged as one or another, the MAJORITY of the "reports/p­ictures/vi­d clips are THE SAME , with minor variations and minor juxtapositioning or voice inflection ? THis has been going on for quite sometime and long gone are the days when say, newpapers themselves employed "reporters" and sent or stationed them around the world to REPORT ..ITs all rather mechanized ..AP being THE prime source. LOL, go online and check out the dribble of sophmoronic AOL news clips and reports and etc....Spa­rse on facts, hardly a good source of reaping valid information and too often more like sponsored commercial­s...Tis pathetic and check out YOUR local print paper, check the "sources" , note too, how few the pages and getting fewer and whatever will we use to wrap the garbage in soon ? Most are laying off even more and trimming/cutting back and finding readership­/susbscrip­tion shrinking as many find little of value in those pages that can not be garnered elsewhere so why clutter up/contribute to the waste of resources !!!

[larry278]

When I traveled I got to see Gannett papers. All of them were lousy or much worse. The LOUISVILLE [KY] COURIER-JOURNAL till the feuding family sold it to Gannett, was a good paper The Lexington, Ky paper is now Ky's best paper. It has improved greatly since the late 1960's when I was a grad student at the U of Ky. When I went to Ky, I was able to get the Lexington paper at the airport in Louisville. I haven't bothered with the C-J since Gannett bought it.
Look at local papers, they no longer use proof readers as you can see by the typos. The editors, mailers, reporters. pressmen, truck drivers aren't a big part of a towns workforce. Closing a paper won't mean much to a town's unemployment rates. The former employees of a news paper will have to change occupations as those who made buggy whips did after the model T became popular. American capitalism has always been cruel. The competition is most cruel.

[ibsteve2u]

Well, at least all of the journalists, editors, proofreaders, and on and on will be able to get a job in a factory.

If they do not mind moving to another nation, that is.