More Cuts to Come, From Philly to Montana

By: E&P Staff More newspapers, large and small, are trying to adjust their business models during these challenging times.

Philadelphia Media Holdings, which operates The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, is asking its unions to bear down and perhaps bypass raises scheduled to being Sept. 1, according to a memo posted on Romenesko. The guild is meeting to determine how to handle the request, which must be vetted through the voting process.

Meanwhile, in Bozeman, Mont., the daily newspaper there said it has to cut six full-time and three part-time positions through layoffs amounting to 6.5% of its staff, according to a story in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

"This was a difficult decision, but current economic conditions left us no choice," Publisher Stephanie Pressly told her paper adding that after a strong start, conditions took a "dramatic downturn" in Q2. Big Sky Publishing operates the Daily Chronicle.

And Lee Enterprises-owned Journal Star in Lincoln, Neb., said it trimmed its workforce by 16 people: eight in the newsroom, four in advertising, three in consumer products, and one online position (ass we reported yesterday). The laid-off staffers will receive severance of one week's pay for each year of service plus a vacation grant, according to the paper.

Publisher John Maher, who was a victim of downsizing at the Kansas City Star in 2001, told his paper: "A difficult economy, coupled with rapidly rising newsprint prices and challenges in key advertising categories, forced these painful decisions regarding our staffing levels, structure and product configuration."