In US, Tribune publisher to slash 700 jobs

The Tribune Company, which also owns the Chicago Tribune and six other newspapers, said the cuts would affect 6 per cent of its workforce of more than 11,000.

 

According to a report in the Tribune, the company aims to consolidate back-room operations such as marketing, manufacturing and advertising under common leadership and there would be no cuts among reporters' ranks.

 

The company is trying to spin off the papers into a separate unit and in July it paid 2.7 billion dollars for 19 local televisionstations as it seeks to focus on broadcasting.

 

"Unfortunately, organising around functional lines rather than maintain what we're doing locally, there is going to be some staff reductions," said Peter Liguori, president and CEO of Tribune. "We are not going to be reducing any of our frontline reporters. Overtime there will be some small reductions on the editorial side, but we want to maintain our best-in-class local journalism."   The Chicago-based company emerged from a four-year bankruptcy on December 31. It currently operates 23 television stations and eight daily newspapers, including The Orlando Sentinel and the Baltimore Sun.

 

Last year it eliminated some 800 jobs.//DPA