By: E&P Staff The Dallas Morning News said today that 111 newsroom employees have accepted buyouts.
"The number of confirmed acceptances meets our strategic newsroom realignment goals, and we have a very deep and capable team of about 450 professionals to continue producing a newspaper of distinction," Jim Moroney, publisher of the paper, said in a statement. "As we empower reporters and photographers to further apply methods in new media to communicate stories, our emphasis will remain squarely on excellence in every regard."
Executives had targeted 85 positions in the newsroom or 17% of staff with a voluntary buyout. The severance package includes two weeks of base pay per year of continuous service up to 15 years, and three weeks base pay for each year of service that exceeds 15. For healthcare, the company is providing a lump sum payment equal to 12 months of the employee's applicable COBRA premium.
The aggregate amount of buyout payments is about $6.7 million -- $5 million of which will be recorded in Q3, with the remainder recorded in Q4. The paper expects to save $9.9 million by trimming staff.
The final day for employees that accepted the buyout is Sept. 15.
"Belo is intensely focused on the right allocation of resources enterprise-wide, building up necessary competitive capabilities, and maintaining marketing and new product investments, while reducing costs whenever possible," said Robert Decherd, Belo's chairman, president, and CEO, in a statement.
In 2006, Belo said it has shed 200 positions company-wide, while adding 30 positions to Internet-related duties.
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