Gannett To Slash More Than 3,000 Jobs Across Local Papers
This story was written by David Kaplan.
A day after Tribune's Los Angeles Times swung the job ax, Gannett (NYSE: GCI) is planning to lay off more than 3,000 employees at its local papers, Reuters reports. This is Gannett's second huge round of job cuts; in August, Gannett said it was eliminating 1,000 positions, with 600 staffers being let go. The layoffs will hit 80 local Gannett dailies.
In a staff memo, Gannett newspaper Division President Robert Dickey attributed the cuts to the economic downturn and the continuing difficulty in attracting ad sales at the local papers. The company just released another in a string of dismal newspaper earnings reports, as Q3 total operating revenues slid 8.9 percent to $1.64 billion and net income dropped 32 percent to $158 million. Gannett's board is meeting this Thursday, when it may decide to cut its dividend to free up more capital.
-- Marketwatch: The newspaper industry has shed a staggering 12,000 jobs this year. And while newspaper ranks have thinned considerably over the years, this current bloodletting shows no signs of hitting bottom.
By David Kaplan