• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 15, 2008

The ailing newspaper business got more discouraging news Wednesday and Thursday with tandem announcements by the Tribune Co. and The New York Times Company that they will cut hundreds of positions, including a high proportion of newsroom staffers. Both companies said they would try to cut positions through buyouts and leave some positions unfilled, but neither ruled out layoffs if targets are not met.

The NYTCO will cut about 100 jobs from the newsroom of its flagship newspaper in 2008. That number represents about 8% of 1,332 total newsroom positions. Last year, the NYTCO offered buyouts to 125 employees from two newspapers in its New England Media Group: The Boston Globe and The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. A similar program near the end of 2005 helped cut about 160 employees.

Tribune Co.'s new owner, Sam Zell, said he wants to cut between 400 and 500 positions from the company, including 100-150 at the troubled Los Angeles Times.

If the plan to cut 40-50 newsroom staffers at the LA paper is representative, at least one out of three of the total 400-500 positions being eliminated is in the newsroom.

An interesting counterpoint to this news came from Russ Stanton, the newly appointed editor of the Los Angeles Times, who seemed to oppose newsroom cuts in his first meeting with the paper's staff. "As the baton has been passed from one editor to the next, there have been only three constants: a smaller newspaper to read, a smaller newsroom to soldier on and no plan to reverse our fortunes."

As Stanton noted, two of his predecessors were fired for refusing to implement newsroom cuts. But in his opening speech, Stanton didn't seem any more tractable.

While the revolving door has been spinning at the editor's office, the Los Angeles Times has launched a number of new products to raise revenues and increase reader engagement. Most recently, the paper announced that it will begin publishing a free weekly, Metromix Los Angeles, drawing content from the Times Web site of the same name.

With an initial circulation of 100,000, distributed at free newsstands, Metromix will target young, professional Angelenos with news and guides to culture and nightlife. Thus, it will go head to head with LA Weekly, an established free weekly publication owned by Village Voice Media.