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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Santa Fe Newspaper To Eliminate 16.5 Jobs


Associated Press
      SANTA FE — The Santa Fe New Mexican plans to eliminate 16.5 jobs, including 10 in the newsroom, because of sharply dropping advertising revenue.
    "Like most newspapers, The New Mexican is feeling the effects of the national economy and the local economy," Ginny Sohn, associate publisher, said Wednesday in a memo to staff.
    "Real estate brokers, builders, car dealers and other retailers have always been good and loyal advertising customers, and sales are down for many of them," she said.
    Full-time workers who are laid off will receive a severance package based on years of service. Laid-off workers also will be offered job counseling and placement services.
    Some of the job cuts already have been achieved through resignations.
    The newspaper's goal is 214 full-time employees, down from 230.5 in July 2007.
    Sunday real-estate advertising, which used to bring in thousands of dollars every month, has dropped precipitously and is now only a remnant of what it used to be, Sohn said.
    The New Mexican already has taken steps to trim costs, including reducing the number of pages, discontinuing zoned editions, trimming support jobs, selling delivery vehicles and reducing freelance spending, she said.
    Rob Dean, managing editor, said The New Mexican will not share financial information with the public.
    But "we can say the goal is to reduce expenses through the rest of 2008 to offset losses in revenue. We will achieve that mostly by not filling open positions," he said. "We want to keep the layoff as small as possible."
    Sohn said readership and overall local retail advertising remains strong.
    "Every day more than 90,000 people — about 70 percent of the Santa Fe area — read The New Mexican in print or online," she said.
    The New Mexican's last round of layoffs of about the same size took place in 1989, when 11 full-time and four part-time employees were laid off.
    Newspapers nationwide are struggling with the generally weak economy.
    Newsprint costs have jumped, and advertising and circulation revenue have quickened newspapers' descent this year as advertisers follow readers online.
    Newspaper Web sites capture only a small fraction of the revenue lost as they sell fewer print ads, which fetch more money.

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