Boston Globe to cut newsroom staff by 12 percent

Posted by Alisa Zykova on January 16, 2009 at 8:36 PM

U.S. newspaper The Boston Globe will be cutting its news and editorial staff by 12 percent, or nearly 50 full-time positions, the newspaper reported Friday.

There will be voluntary buyouts for 397 full-time news staff to over across the next few weeks. However, if targets aren't met through the buyouts then the paper may lay off union and management employees.

This is the fifth time the globe has decreased its newsroom staff since 2001. The latest buyout plan is different, as it affects 350 newsroom and editorial employees as well as 29 members from Boston.com, individuals who were previously not taken into account. All of the paper's news and editorial staff are eligible to take part in the buyouts, including those with under five years at the firm, Boston.com reported.

Staff Editor Martin Baron mentioned that the employees are "being tested again" and that a "resourceful newsroom" like the Globe's can "meet the test."

"These are the darkest days for newspapers,"Louis Ureneck, chairman of Boston University's journalism department, told Boston.com "They have more readers than ever when you count online readers, but they have yet to figure out how to translate the interest in news on the Internet into revenue."