Sadly Daily Newspapers Are Dying

Chicago Sun-Times executives told the union representing reporters, editors and columnists at the paper that it intends to eliminate 35 union positions in the newsroom. In addition, the newspaper plans to eliminate five non-union management positions, sources said.

The newspaper's plan was outlined in a letter Thursday from Sun-Times labor relations chief Ted Rilea to Chicago Newspaper Guild executive director Gerald Minkkinen.

"We knew it was going to be bad, but it's worse than people were expecting,'' said one reporter who spoke on background.

Chicago Newspaper Guild officials will meet with management at the paper over the next two weeks to negotiate in an effort to avoid as many "involuntary layoffs'' as possible, said Minkkinen, who added that he was out of the office and had not yet seen the letter.

"What this basically does is sets the size of the pie as to how much they wish to cut,'' Minkkinen said. "Everything else is subject is to negotiation. We will consider every alternative we can.'' The goal of the negotiations, he added, was to "try and lessen the effects of the layoffs or eliminate it.''

But he added that cuts are unavoidable. "There will be cost cutting. It's a matter of how.''

The cuts are part of a plan the newspaper's owner, Sun-Times Media Group Inc., announced in December to reduce operating costs by $50 million this year as the company's financial picture worsens.

Sun-Times Media, which also owns dozens of daily and weekly newspapers in the suburbs, earlier made the decision to combine its Star newspapers with the Daily Southtown, resulting in the elimination of 31 positions.

Like most newspaper companies, Sun-Times Media has been hurt over the past several years by the march of readers and advertisers from print to the Internet. In addition, Sun-Times Media has been hurt financially by huge legal and investigative costs associated with the scandal and subsequent fraud convictions of former CEO Conrad Black and Sun-times publisher David Radler.

When asked about morale in the newsroom, Minnkinen said: "obviously people are down. People are very frightened. There's a hell of a lot concern among our members.''

Separately, the company said Thursday that it was parting ways with its Vice President of Advertising, John Martin. The paper's top advertising executive had only been in the post since last January.