By: (AP) Employees of Media General Inc. will not receive holiday bonuses this year in an effort to offset losses from a weak economy, company officials said.
Year-end bonuses for 3,200 employees would have totaled about $1.9 million, said company spokesman Karl Rhodes. The bonus is about one week's pay, which averages $593.75, he said.
The only workers affected by the move are at
The Tampa (Fla.)
Tribune, the
Richmond Times-Dispatch, and at the company's Richmond headquarters, Rhodes said.
In a letter to the company's employees dated July 31, Media General chairman and
Times-Dispatch Publisher J. Stewart Bryan III said the decision to eliminate the bonuses was prompted by "the worst advertising downturn in a decade, caused by a weak economy.
"While this may appear drastic within the culture of our company, it is far less severe than measures already taken by many of our peer companies," Bryan wrote, referring to decisions this year by other media companies to lay off employees.
Media General reported a profit of $7.7 million for the quarter ended July 1, down from $9.6 million from the same period in 2000, and announced second-quarter earnings fell 20%.
Media General owns newspapers and broadcast properties, primarily in the Southeast, and holds an interest in recycled newsprint and diversified information services.
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