By: Mark Fitzgerald Shaw Newspapers eliminated a total of 12 jobs at its biggest far-suburban Chicago daily and other papers in what the chain said Thursday was a reorganization to group management.
?This wasn?t your typical bloodletting because sales are down,? John Rung, group publisher for Shaw?s NorthWest News Group, said in an interview. ?We?re in a tough environment like anyone else, but our dailies are operating consistently above where they were last year.
?It?s not a situation like Akron, but it?s still not fun,? he added, referring to the big newsroom layoffs announced by the new owner of the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal. ?A lot of these people worked here for a while, and they are valuable people.?
Rung said the job eliminations were the results of a long-planned move to a group-style management for Dixon, Ill.-based Shaw papers.
Previously, he said, ?All the papers had their own management structures, and we were very highly silo-ed,? he said. ?We made a decision a year ago to go to a group structure.?
Three jobs were eliminated at the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Ill.: the marketing director, a circulation operations manager, and a reporter.
Seven positions were eliminated at two of its weekly groups, including two reporters, a photo editor, and graphics people. Two ad director positions were combined into a single position at the weeklies, the result of the recent purchase of a shopper that had its own ad director, Rung said.
At the same time, the Shaw group has hired six new media journalists, including a videographer for its online operations. Rung said he had also just authorized the hiring of two reporters for the Northwest Herald.
?A lot of our investments are in new media, and unfortunately, some of the old media has to go,? he said.
Employees whose jobs have been eliminated have been given lists of open positions. ?We?re hopeful some of these people will continue to stay with us,? Rung said.
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