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Gannett to lay off 600; eliminate 1,000 positions
Tysons Corner-based Gannett Co. Inc. is laying off 600 workers and eliminating 1,000 positions according to former Gannett editor Jim Hopkins.On Hopkins' "Gannett Blog," (www.gannettblog.blogspot.com)he states that The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., is among the first Gannett newspapers reporting layoffs.
According to an internal memo attributed to a Gannett publisher, the company has reportedly also told employees this week that Gannett is eliminating 1,000 newspaper jobs, or about 3 percent of the newspaper division's workforce, laying off about 600 employees in the process.
According to the memo, the 1,000 staff positions will not affect the flagship USA Today newspaper, and will instead be taken from from the company's Community Publishing division, which has 84 papers.
According to Hopkins, a reader of his blog--and presumably a Gannett employee--provided the memo that Daily Times Publisher Rick Jensen reportedly e-mailed about 4 p.m. Thursday at the Daily Times paper in Salisbury, Md.
"Jensen would be the first Gannett executive to publicly confirm recent speculation that GCI is cutting jobs across the company--and the first executive to disclose details of such cuts," Hopkins--a former Gannett veteran editor of 20-plus years--commented on the letter's authenticity.
Gannett did not immediately return calls to The Times.
The memo continues: "Our position reduction plan is now at Corporate for review. We expect to receive final approval by Monday, and affected employees will be notified by next Thursday."
The memo also states that "affected employees will be offered a severance package. Benefits include one week of pay for each year of service (52 week maximum); minimum two-week severance benefit; medical benefits will continue for the length of the severance period."
According to its Web site, Gannett publishes 85 daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, and nearly 900 non-daily publications.
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