Virginian-Pilot Cuts 40 More Jobs

 

NORFOLK, VA (April 11, 2009) – While announcing the third wave of job cuts in less than six months at The Virginian-Pilot – this time, 40 more people – the newspaper's publisher said this week that their financial outlook "is brightening."

President and publisher Maurice Jones said that combined, the newspapers and its associated companies turned a profit in the first quarter of this year. While not disclosing any figures, Jones said that every unit turned a profit - even if those profits fell short of each division's targets.

The modernization of the Pilot's printing presses, along with other equipment costs and taxes, triggered the latest job cutbacks, he said. The Pilot's workforce will now drop to fewer than 1,000 workers after the cuts.

The Pilot is also dropping 12 news pages per week, there will be no pay raises for the second straight year, and the North Carolina section of the newspaper will drop to once a week from three. Earlier this year the Pilot dropped a daily Business section, which now appears only on Sunday, saving 40 news pages per week with the change.

The publisher said the recession shows "no sign of relenting" so financially, the company has "more work" to do to insure their future. The Pilot is battling the same financial forces that have battered American newspapers for a couple of years now, the Internet and a recessionary decline in advertising.

Since last year the Pilot has laid off 180 people, and the 988 remaining employees is a figure that doesn't include about 800 contractors who deliver the newspaper.

 

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