Chicago, Seattle Newspapers Cutting Staff

CHICAGO SUN TIMES WRESTLES WITH NEW REALITY
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, AUTHOR: Barbara Rose and Robert Manor]
Readers of the Chicago Sun-Times picked up a smaller paper Tuesday, the latest tangible sign of the economic struggles engaging metropolitan newspapers around the country. The tabloid's physical shrinkage, by about 1 inch to save newsprint costs, is more easily accomplished than the pending staff cuts that will pare editorial positions by 19 percent, the largest local newsroom layoff in recent memory. The losses reach beyond the bylines that will disappear. They underscore the reality that a notoriously competitive news town, once home to multiple scrappy dailies that served as the model for Ben Hecht's "The Front Page," now is having a hard time supporting two.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed_suntimesjan09,0,2472171.story

SEATTLE TIMES PLANS TO CUT ITS WORK FORCE
[SOURCE: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, AUTHOR: Andrea James]
The Seattle Times Co. confirmed Tuesday that it would reduce its work force by 86 positions -- mostly through attrition -- to aid its financial struggles and maintain family ownership. The cuts include 17 layoffs, most of them in its circulation department. The newspaper, run and majority-owned by the Blethen family, recently warned of structural changes to handle declining advertising revenue. It maintains a separate newsroom from the Seattle P-I, but the papers share key business functions such as circulation, advertising and printing under a joint operating agreement. The McClatchy Co. holds a 49.5 percent stake in The Times. The P-I is owned by The Hearst Corp.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/346533_timeslayoffs09.html
* Is The Seattle Times’ Owner Being Remarkably Open About His Company’s Challenges?
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-01-09/news/bad-news-blethen.php?page=full