Gannett launches new round of U.S.-wide newspaper lay-offs; Asheville officially down 2

It’s no secret in the journalism world that Gannett, the largest owner of newspapers in America, last week launched another round of cost-cutting lay-offs. PoynterOnline’s Romenesko, who blogs about the journalism industry, has a report from the Maynard Institute, while other reports have been coming in from various sources. 

The go-to source for following Gannett’s moves is Jim Hopkins’ Gannett Blog. His latest tally is that Gannett has cut more than 150 jobs. His records have the Asheville Citizen-Times cutting four jobs, but the official line I’m hearing is two people – one in advertising, and one in maintenance. The cuts were made without warning.

Over the past two years, Gannett has instituted a number of measures to cut costs as newspaper advertising has declined, more and more digital competitors have come online and the national economy dipped into recession. The company has reduced its number of employees, instituted furloughs, cut back on newsprint spending and made a number of moves to consolidate the functions of producing the newspaper.

The economy remains difficult, but the powers-that-be here remain optimistic about a recovery in advertising and the future of newspaper, both online and in print. We’ll keep watching.