Print news headed downhill
Anchorage Daily News building
The Anchorage Daily News, Alaska’s largest newspaper, says it will cut 45 jobs from its payroll, about 17 percent of the staff.
The Anchorage Daily News is owned by McClatchy, one of the United States’ largest media conglomerates. CNN.com wasn’t kidding in its headline “Bad News Days for Newspaper Biz.”
Daily News details
Publisher Patrick Doyle announced the cuts today, and said the 45 positions would be eliminated through layoffs and leaving some unfilled jobs vacant.
Doyle also said in his letter that some remaining staffers would get wage cuts.
McClatchy’s big plan
McClatchy’s overall budget plan includes cutting $110 million in spending. The company is suffering because of declining advertising revenue. Short term loans don’t appear to be a good option for the company, which has been losing revenue since before the recession.
McClatchy is plans to cut 15 percent of its total workforce, which will amount to slashing about 1,600 jobs.
Fallen friends
Also today, Michigan newspaper the Ann Arbor News announced it will shut down in July. The newspaper’s web site says it will be replaced by an online news operation at AnnArbor.com. The Ann Arbor News has been around for 174 years.
AnnArbor.com is an LLC, and current employees at the Ann Arbor News are being invited to apply for jobs at the new company, but owners say job losses are inevitable.
More head for the Web
The decision is similar to one the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reached last week. The P.I. is now an online-only presence at seattlepi.com.
Hearst Corp. still owns the Seattle P.I. in its new form. The newspaper had been around for 146 years. The staff for seattlepi.com consists of about 20 employees, compared to the 165 who worked for the print publication.
Future of news?
Newspaper readership and advertising revenue have taken a plunge since more people have turned to the Internet as their main source of news. These new, online-only local news operations will be a good test of the emerging business model.
It would be tempting to ask if there weren’t enough dog sled races to report on, but even I know that’s a ridiculous stereotype having actually been to Alaska. I guess the somewhat bright side is that they aren’t completely folding and going to online only.