This summer has brought a rash of notices of buyouts and layoffs at U.S. newspapers, reports Reuters. And some industry watchers say more will come as ad and circulation dollars dry up. At Belo Corp.,
the flagship
Dallas Morning News wants to cut 85 positions as it prepares to restructure. And the
Plain Dealer in Cleveland, owned by privately held Advance Publications Inc., says
cutbacks are coming. The
Chicago Tribune and
The New York Times are also shedding jobs. Nearly all the recent announcements promise "pinpoint reductions rather than deep cuts," Reuters
says. And the reason publishers prefer a trickle is that newsrooms are already stretched too thin. "Any time you reduce the staffing of a journalistic enterprise, it's inevitable that you're going to
lower the quantity, and probably the quality, of the journalistic product," says industry analyst John Morton. But how deep can they cut? "If revenue continues to not grow, I think you'll see a steady
adjustment in the work force," says Benchmark Co. analyst Edward Atorino.
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