On Tuesday, Gannett Company, the corporate parent of the Clarion-Ledger, announced sharply lower earnings and their intention to lay off another 10 percent of their Newspaper division workforce in early December. The layoffs come just months after another round of layoffs affected 3 percent of employees in August.
According to the New York Times, the layoffs will not affect USA Today, the chain’s flagship newspaper, but will instead focus on local newspapers around the country.
Gannett’s numbers showed a 17.7 percent drop in newspaper advertising for the quarter, and a 32.5 percent drop in revenue from the year-ago quarter.
Editor and Publisher: “Gannett shares have lost more than 75 percent during the past 52 weeks. Fallon said the company’s broadcast segment, which saw some gains from the Olympics and political advertising, also provides some downside protection to the investment.”
According to the E&P story, each publisher is responsible for implementing a 10 percent “involuntary staff reduction” offering one week of severance for every year worked.
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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.