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The Star Tribune plans to cut up to 25 newsroom jobs through buyouts or layoffs, while KSTP-TV is expected to lay off up to 18 newsroom staffers. The Brainerd Dispatch said it laid off 10 workers on Tuesday, though it’s unclear how many of those worked in the newsroom.
In a memo obtained by online newspaper MinnPost, Star Tribune editor Nancy Barnes told employees Thursday that both union employees and some managers will get the buyout offers.
“My hope is that we’ll have the details of the program available well before Christmas so that staff members can have enough time to decide if they want to apply for the buyout,” Barnes wrote. “Unfortunately, if we do not get the buyouts we seek, there are likely to be some layoffs in January.”
The note to the newspaper’s employees came two days after publisher Chris Harte told all Star Tribune employees that it was asking the company’s labor unions to agree to $20 million in cuts by mid-January.
The $20 million would be in addition to $10 million in cuts the company said it has already started to implement. Harte said the cuts are needed as the company negotiates its long-term debt with creditors and that without them, the newspaper could face bankruptcy.
Union leaders are scheduled to meet again next week to discuss the cuts, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.
Meanwhile, employees at KSTP-TV were preparing for an all-station meeting today, where station managers planned to detail the layoffs.
Investigative reporter Kristi Piehl confirmed she’s one of 18 newsroom employees being laid off at the ABC affiliate. “We knew that we were in rough economic times, but I don’t think anyone expected 18 people to be laid off in the newsroom,” Piehl said.
A message left by The Associated Press for KSTP news director Lindsay Radford was not immediately returned Thursday.
At the Brainerd Dispatch, publisher Terry McCollough said his newspaper is not immune to the economic downturn.
“We cut every expense we could think of but still had to reduce our work force. They were all great people, good employees and we hated to see them go,” he said.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the owner of the St. Cloud Times laid off 17 people and eliminated six open positions. Publisher Bill Albrecht has said the jobs were dropped across all divisions, including sales, newsroom, production and circulation.
