Tuesday, August 23, 2011

East Bay Papers to Consolidate, 8 Percent Staff Cuts Expected

As newspapers nationwide struggle to evolve viable business models, Bay Area News Group on Tuesday said it will consolidate 11 local newspapers in the East Bay into two regional newspapers and lay off 8 percent of the staff.

"After many months of research and planning, we are taking a strategy of rebranding," said Mac Tully, BANG president, in an interview. "We are trying to gain efficiencies through streamlining. A lot of positives are being added: a local section seven days a week, a stand-alone business section every day and the successful technology section from the South Bay being brought up to the East Bay."

BANG will shift more of its print dollars to digital offerings, including its iPad and iPhone apps and upcoming products, Tully said.

Starting Nov. 2, the Oakland Tribune, Alameda Times-Star, Daily Review, Argus and West County Times will appear under the name East Bay Tribune. Tully said it will primarily serve the 880 corridor.

At the same time, the Contra Costa Times, Valley Times, San Ramon Valley Times, Tri-Valley Herlad, San Joaquin Herald and East County Times will be rebranded as The Times to serve the 680 corridor and east, Tully said.

In addition, the San Mateo County Times will be branded under the Mercury News title. Tully said it's still under discussion whether the Mercury News will keep San Jose in its name.

BANG will also launch two new weekly newspapers: The Valley Journal for Alamo, Danville and San Ramon; and The Times-Herald for Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore and Sunol.

The moves will mean the end of the 137-year-old Oakland Tribune name.

"From a nostalgic perspective, anyone who loves Oakland can't help but feel a sense of loss," said Martin Reynolds, editor of the Oakland Tribune. "But I think we would feel a lot more loss if the Tribune were gone entirely. For me personally what's most important is that there still is a Tribune and that we're going to be in the community and have a presence."

Newspaper observers said the moves appear to be trying to make the best of the financial struggles besetting all newspapers. Around the country, advertising sales, the primary source of newspaper revenues, are half what they were in 2005, said Alan Mutter, a media consultant in San Francisco.

"With advertising revenues shrinking, it makes sense for them to try to create newspapers that are easier for them to put together," he said. "The net result for readers could be a paper of equal caliber but probably somewhat less local, and given that more positions will be elminated in the newsroom as well as production side, probably somewhat less coverage than before."

BANG said it will cut 120 jobs out of its workforce of 1,500. The bulk will come from closing a Walnut Creek printing facility, but Reynolds said about 40 positions may be cut from the editorial side.

"It sounds like with very limited resources they are trying to put out a better product," said Cynthia Gorney, a professor at the UC Berkeley journalism school. "Everywhere in the Bay Area, readers are getting frustrated by the drop in local reporters able to cover responsibly the events they care about. I understand that a lot of this is driven by newspaper bewilderment and frustration over how they'll continue to make money."

BANG is part of MediaNews Group, the nation's second largest newspaper publisher by circulation. Last week MediaNews said it will erect a pay wall, or online subscription model, for 23 smaller papers in five states, including California. Tully said there are no plans for a similar move in the Bay Area.

The Mercury News, BANG's flagship paper, had a weekday circulation of 577,665 as of March, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation. That includes readers of the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune. The Chronicle, the only other daily of significant size in the Bay Area, had a circulation of 235,350.

Both MediaNews and Hearst, the Chronicle's publisher, are privately held, so details on their advertising sales and other revenues are not available.

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