Herald job cuts part of corporate reductions

It was also announced Monday that a letter of intent was signed between Pioneer Newspapers Inc., owner of the Skagit Valley Herald, and The Bellingham Herald for a printing agreement in which the Whatcom County newspaper would be printed in Mount Vernon starting sometime next year. The companies expect to finalize the printing agreement within the next several weeks, according to McClatchy.

“We are responding to current economic conditions like any other company would,” said Nardi, noting that the paper has been affected by the cyclical slowdown in real estate, auto and employment advertising.

The printing agreement is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2009, after Pioneer completes construction of the Skagit Valley Herald’s new office and production facilities. Pioneer Newspapers also will be printing McClatchy’s Idaho Statesman at the Idaho Press Tribune.

While The Bellingham Herald has been affected by a slowdown in revenue, readership has grown when combining the print and online operations. Year over year for May, the newspaper’s overall audience grew by 12 percent during the week and by 5 percent on Sunday.

“We remain the dominant media company in Whatcom County in terms of news gathering,” Nardi said.

McClatchy’s decision will eliminate 1,400 jobs nationwide through a combination of layoffs, voluntary departures and attrition. The percentage of job cuts varies at each of McClatchy’s 30 daily newspapers: The Sacramento Bee will trim its work force by 8.1 percent while the Miami Herald is eliminating 17 percent of its jobs.

The job cuts are designed to save McClatchy about $70 million a year, as part of a larger plan to reduce total operating costs by $95 million to $100 million a year.

Newspaper companies are losing revenue because of the weak economy and the migration of business to the Internet; the gains they’re making at their own Web sites aren’t nearly enough to offset the decline in print advertising and circulation.“We have been transitioning steadily and successfully from a traditional newspaper company to an integrated multimedia company for some time,” said McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt in a press release. “The effects of the current national economic downturn — particularly in real estate, auto and employment advertising — make it essential that we move faster now to realign our workforce and make our operations more efficient. I’m sorry this requires the painful announcement we are making today, but we’re taking this action to help ensure a healthy future for our company.”