McClatchy will cut 1,400 jobs, 10% of its workforce, as advertising slumps

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



McClatchy Plans to Cut 1,400 Jobs, 10% of Workforce (Update2)

By Leon Lazaroff

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- McClatchy Co., owner of the Miami Herald and 29 other daily newspapers, will cut about 1,400 jobs, or 10 percent of its workforce, after a record decline in industrywide advertising sales.

The reductions will result in savings of about $70 million annually and are part of a plan to save as much as $100 million in the next four quarters, Sacramento-based McClatchy said today in a statement. The Miami Herald plans to eliminate 250 positions, or 17 percent of its staff, the newspaper said today.

Tribune Co. and New York Times Co. have also cut staff to realign costs as companies that historically advertised in newspapers shift their spending to the Internet. Newspaper print ad sales slumped 14 percent in the first quarter, the most on record, the Newspaper Association of America said June 13.

Ad sales at McClatchy, which also publishes the Sacramento Bee, fell 17 percent in May after a 15 percent decline in the first quarter. The company was hit by the weak housing market in California and Florida where it owns eight daily newspapers. Real estate and automotive classified both fell by about 38 percent in May, the company said in a separate statement.

The job cuts will come through attrition, employee buyouts and firings, McClatchy said.

Tribune, New York Times

Tribune plans job reductions after announcing earlier this month that it will eliminate about 500 pages a week from its newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. The New York Times eliminated 100 newsroom positions in May through voluntary buyouts and some firings.

Advertisers spent $8.43 billion on newspaper ads in the first quarter, according to the Newspaper Association of America, the eighth consecutive quarterly ad sales decline. Real estate and recruitment ads each fell 35 percent.

McClatchy rose 3 cents to $8.18 at 10:41 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had declined 35 percent this year before today.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aRw9B60Ickzk&refer=home

[pleah]

1. K&R It will affect our paper.

They haven't said who they will be, yet.