ARIZONA REPUBLIC TO CUT JOBS

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By: Tony Case Gannett Sites Soft Advertising, Higher Newsprint Prices





(Mediaweek Online) The Arizona Republic of Phoenix said Thursday it will slash 60 jobs because of "current and anticipated market conditions," including softer advertising, higher newsprint prices and redundancy stemming from Gannett Co.'s $2.8 billion purchase last summer of Republic parent Central Newspapers.



Republic CEO Sue Clark-Johnson said such belt-tightening wasn't uncommon in the industry these days. She cited recent firings at Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times and the announcement that Knight Ridder's Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News would cut their work force by 3% through buyouts.



The news from Phoenix came a week after John Oppedahl, the paper's publisher of four years, resigned abruptly, leading to rumors he was heading to Hearst Corp.'s newly acquired San Francisco Chronicle as publisher. Oppedahl and Hearst were staying quiet, but in a memo to staffers Oppedahl cryptically referred to "other opportunities in the newspaper industry."







Copyright 2000, Editor & Publisher.

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