By: E&P Staff In the latest cost-cutting Tribune Co. move, The Hartford Courant is slicing seven newsroom positions. Among the cuts: The newspaper's Washington bureau is downsizing from five positions to two, as Tribune consolidates its bureaus there.
In a memo to staffers, posted at the Romenesko site at the Poynter Institute this afternoon, Editor Brian Toolan frankly addressed the issue that these cuts, and ongoing attrition, were fueled by needs to satisfy shareholders. He wrote:
"These reductions and the dollars that are attached to them should satisfy the targets we were directed to reach. Beyond the budgeted attrition that began in July 2003, we were assigned additional and substantial cost-savings several weeks ago, savings meant to close a gap between the rate of revenue we are forecasting for 2004 and the demands contained in the 2005 budget.
"When visited by developments that sadden and anger, it?s always nice to have someone to blame. That isn?t so easy. Major newspaper companies, like the one for which we work, have many priorities. Among the most pressing is the need to bring value to the institutions and individuals who invest in them. That is a fierce reality that plays out in our business and in most everyone else?s. If you are disappointed in anyone, then be disappointed in me. I thought I could keep layoffs from hitting the newsroom. I was wrong.
"This has been a rough year in a number of ways. But a new year looms. We?ll meet the challenges of doing much with fewer people than we?d like to have. And this newsroom will remain a place where hard-driving journalists can do work that is the match of the very largest and best-resourced newspapers, and where a sophisticated and demanding readership is well served."
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