• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, July 18, 2008

Call it the Midsummer Massacre. The last two months have seen a bloodbath at some of America's largest newspaper publishers, with substantial job cuts hitting a number of papers, including a high proportion of newsroom positions. The scythe has visited McClatchy, Media General, the Tribune Co., the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, among others.

Media General got the scythe swinging in late May with its announcement that it would cut 810 positions across its properties in the southeast, with the vast majority falling on its publishing business; just 65 of the positions were in broadcasting or corporate. As part of the reductions, the Tampa Tribune (along with its sister broadcast station WFLA-Channel 8) is losing about 110 positions, or about 8% of the total 1,326, including at least 50 in the newsroom.

Media General's total revenues fell 10% in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2007, to $204.8 million.

In May, the Washington Post cut 100 newsroom positions--or about 12% of the total 800--through a combination of voluntary buyouts and attrition, meaning no layoffs were required. An unspecified number of employees in other divisions also accepted the buyout offer. This followed two earlier rounds of buyouts in 2003 and 2006.

While a total number is unavailable, Gannett has also cut hundreds of positions since May, including 50 at USA Today, 55 layoffs at four newspapers in New Jersey, 150 buyouts at the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News (about 7.5% of the total 2,000) and an unspecified number of graphic design positions company-wide.

More recently, on Wednesday of this week the Honolulu Advertiser said it would lay off 54 employees or 8% of its workforce, and an unconfirmed rumor circulated on Thursday that 50 or more positions would be cut at the Arizona Republic. Gannett Broadcasting is also cutting an unspecified number of positions.

This week Gannett announced that total revenues tumbled 9.9% in the second quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, to $1.72 billion, with President and CEO Craig Dubow admitting that "the weakening economy had a dramatic impact on our results."

In mid-June McClatchy announced that it was cutting 1,400 jobs, or about 10% of its work force--the single biggest cut in the mid-summer purge (so far). McClatchy's restructuring plan follows an earlier reduction of 13%--or around 2,000 employees--from 2006-2008, achieved largely through voluntary buyouts and attrition. The company will have shed over 20% of its workforce in three years, when the second round of cuts is complete.

The Tribune Co. is running a close third in total number of positions eliminated, with an aggressive round of cuts ordered by Sam Zell's new management team hitting all its big properties. The Chicago Tribune is cutting 80 newsroom positions, or about 14% of the total 578, and an unspecified number of jobs in other divisions like ad sales and production. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times is cutting 250, including 150 positions in the newsroom, or about 17% of the total. The Baltimore Sun is cutting 100 positions across its various divisions. Several of Tribune's smaller papers were hit especially hard: the Hartford Courant is losing 57 and the Orlando Sentinel 50 from its newsroom, with an unspecified number elsewhere--large numbers, given the papers' relatively small size.

As the cuts at the Orlando Sentinel and Tampa Tribune indicate, Florida newspapers are faring worse than counterparts outside the Sun Belt--in large part because of the steep downturn in the Florida real estate market, which has gutted classified ad revenues. Amid a legal dispute with minority owner Cox Enterprises, the Daytona Beach News-Journal eliminated 99 positions. And in June, the Palm Beach Post, owned by Cox Newspapers, said it is cutting 300 positions, or about 22% of the total 1,350, including 130 from its newsroom.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also owned by Cox Newspapers, said this week it would cut 189 jobs--or roughly 8% of the total workforce--through voluntary buyouts, attrition, and layoffs. The cuts, to be completed by October, come as the paper eliminates its "geographically targeted news sections" devoted to various parts of the Atlanta metro area. Executives also cited a 35% increase in the cost of newsprint over the last year.

The Wall Street Journal, recently acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., announced this week that it would cut 50 jobs as part of a consolidation of certain functions. In effect, this means the elimination of its global news, global copy, global pagination, Monitor, and the stand-alone WSJ.com editing desks.

The Boston Herald is cutting 130-160 employees, focusing on the production staff, according to Herald President and Publisher Patrick J. Purcell, who announced the decision in a meeting with union leaders in late June. Purcell said printing will be outsourced to presses in nearby Chicopee and Norwood, Mass.; the Chicopee facility is owned by Dow Jones, the Norwood facility by Boston Offset.

The scythe is also swinging at The New York Times, which said back in February that it would cut 100 newsroom positions by the end of the year, preferably through buyouts and attrition--but also with layoffs, if necessary. Overall, the NYTCO has seen its workforce shrink by about 3.8% since last year, according to executives. In the second quarter, the NYTCO's total revenues slid 3.7% to about $789 million.