Robert Dickey, president of Gannett US Community Publishing, said in a memo to employees published by several Gannett papers that the cuts were necessary because of “difficult economic conditions and the impact on our advertisers.”<\/p>\n
He said “approximately 1 400” jobs, or three percent of the workforce, would be eliminated in the division that operates more than 80 local newspapers.<\/p>\n
The cuts were not expected to affect Gannett flagship paper USA Today, the largest daily in the United States in terms of circulation.<\/p>\n
Dickey said previous cost-cutting measures were “making a difference” but the company needed to “implement job reductions to align our resources with the revenue realities we face.”<\/p>\n
Dickey said the “vast majority” of the cuts will take place by July 9.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, we must take these steps because the advertising environment remains challenged,” he said. “There have been some promising signs of a recovery, but the reality is the improvements are not broad-based and the economy continues to be fragile.”<\/p>\n
Like other US newspapers, Gannett papers have been grappling with a steep drop in print advertising revenue, steadily declining circulation and the migration of readers to free news online.<\/p>\n
Dickey said, however, that “measured against our peers in the media industry, we are healthy and capable of moving forward.”<\/p>\n
Gannett currently has some 41 500 employees after laying off about 10 percent of its workforce last year.<\/p>\n
Gannett reported a nearly 60 percent plunge in net profit in the first three months of this year and a 34 percent slump in advertising revenue.<\/p>\n
The McLean, Virginia-based Gannett publishes 84 daily newspapers and nearly 850 magazines and non-daily publications, and operates 23 television stations in the United States.<\/p>\n
Its British subsidiary Newsquest publishes 17 daily newspapers and more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications.<\/p>\n