• June 8, 2004

The Tribune Co., publisher of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, on Monday warned of job cuts and other cost-saving measures at its papers due to weaker-than-expected advertising revenues.

Chicago-based Tribune said the ad shortfall was limited to only a few newspapers, one of which was the Los Angeles Times, but it plans to reduce staff, conserve newsprint and cut spending across all its publishing departments.

The number of job cuts had not yet been determined, according to a Tribune spokesperson, and it would depend on how each business unit would deal with budget issues. The cost cutting is expected to help offset the ad sales weakness. As a result, Tribune said it still sees second-quarter earnings per share within Wall Street forecasts, excluding a charge of $10 million to $15 million for the cost cutting, as well as for other "nonoperating items."