SAD NEWS FROM ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT NEWSPAPERS
Guardian News & Media to cut 50 editorial jobs
by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 08-May-09.


LONDON - Guardian News & Media, publisher of the Guardian and the Observer newspapers, is planning to make up to 50 editorial staff redundant by the end of this year, joining the throng of other national newspaper groups cutting jobs amid the economic downturn.
GN&M told employees that it was looking to shrink staff numbers in the editorial department from 850 to 800 as part of a plan to reduce editorial costs by £10m.
The publisher hopes to meet the reduction by continuing its voluntary redundancy scheme, freezing current vacancies, and by not replacing departing staff.


Management said in an email to staff: "These changes aren't just short-term measures to get us through this current financial downturn.
"They are also about preparing us for journalism in the 21st century, and helping to preserve GNM's journalism in what is a declining newspaper market and a time of great change and challenge for the media industry in general."
Guardian Media Group, parent company of GN&M, imposed an across the board pay freeze for 2009 in February in anticipation of a difficult year.
The pay freeze was said to apply to GMG's wholly owned businesses, which include Guardian.co.uk, MediaGuardian.co.uk, the Manchester Evening News and GMG Radio.

The Guardian and the Observer are the last two national titles to announce staff cuts or redundancies since the economic downturn began.

News International announced in February that it was cutting 65 editorial jobs across its four national titles, the Sunday Times, The Times, The Sun and the News of the World, as part of an efficiency drive.


In January, the Financial Times said that it planned to make up to 80 staff redundant across several departments, while IN&M reported last November that 90 jobs, about 60 of them editorial, would be cut from its national newspaper division in the UK to save £10m.


The Telegraph Media Group also announced last November that it planned to reduce its editorial staff by 10%, a move that was set to put about 50 journalists out of work.

AND IN THE USA THINGS APPEAR TO BE SIMILAR TO THE UK
This report from Media Post

Newspaper Circulation Skids

According to a new report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, for the six months ended March 31, 2009, the largest daily newspapers are losing subscribers at a record pace, with circulation down 7% compared with the same period in March 2008. For Sunday newspapers, circulation was down 5.3%.
In addition to sinking circulation, newspaper ad revenue is plunging. McClatchy ad revenue plummeted 29.5% in Q1 2009 compared to the same quarter last year, while The New York Times Co. saw ad revenue plunge 27%. Zenith Optimedia predicts that ad spending for newspapers will sink 12% in 2009.
During this 6 month period ending Mar. 31, 2009:
Circulation at the New York Times slipped 3.5% during the week and 1.7% on Sundays
The Washington Post fell 1.6% daily and 2.3% on Sundays
USA Today fell 7.4% during the week on a decline in copies ordered from hotels The Chicago Tribune fell 7.4% daily and 4.5% on Sunday
The Los Angeles Times slipped 6.5% and 7.5%
The Boston Globe plunged 13.6% during the week and 11.2% on Sundays
The New York Daily News was down 14% during the week
New York Post, down 20%
The Miami Herald (-15.8%)
The San Francisco Chronicle (-15.7%)
The Philadelphia Inquirer (-13.7%)
The Houston Chronicle (-14%)