The Journal Star reduced its work force Wednesday by 16 employees, publisher John Maher announced.
the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 7:00 pm
The Journal Star reduced its work force Wednesday by 16 employees, publisher John Maher announced.
“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,” Maher said.
The 16 employees — 13 full-time and three part-time — worked in the newsroom, advertising, online division and consumer products, which includes circulation.
The newsroom lost eight employees, advertising lost four, consumer products lost three and the online department lost one.
The employees who were laid off were notified Wednesday morning.
The employees will receive severance of one week’s pay for each year of service, plus a vacation grant they would have received Friday, Maher said. Any employee with 25 years or more service received a year of pay, he said.
“They have been our coworkers and friends and we wish them well,” Maher said. “I know what it’s like. We don’t take these decisions lightly.”
Maher said he lost his job in a reduction in force at the Kansas City Star in 2001.
Before the reductions announced Wednesday, the Journal Star employed 440 people, 273 full-time and 167 part-time.
Among the challenges facing the Journal Star, Maher said, is the cost of newsprint, the second-largest expense behind personnel. That cost will rise 30 percent from a year ago in the quarter beginning Oct. 1, he said.
“We have done a tremendous job of managing in a difficult environment,” Maher said in. “The strategies we’ve employed put us in a better position than our peers. I’m hopeful the decisions we’ve made will make further layoffs unnecessary. But in this economy, nothing is certain.”
Other newspapers around the nation have been cutting staff and other costs as they face changes in consumer habits, rising transportation and paper costs, the depressed housing industry and other changing economic forces in crucial advertising markets.
The Journal Star is owned by Lee Enterprises. Other Lee newspapers that have laid off employees recently include the St. Louis Post Dispatch, St. Louis Suburban Journals, the Bloomington, Ill, Pantagraph and the North County Times in suburban San Diego.
“This is an economy the likes of which hasn’t been seen before by our customers in the financial industry, automotive, airlines and others,” Maher said. “We’re grappling with the same difficult decisions others in this community are facing.
“While our financial situation is difficult, we have much to be proud of,” Maher said. “We’re committed to our efforts to deliver the news this community expects. We reach a larger audience than ever before: 86 percent of the people in our market use our product every month.
“We continue to press forward and accelerate development of initiatives that span our print, distribution and digital products,” Maher said.