As this blog feared one month ago, The Tampa Tribune this afternoon announced it will be laying off 70 employees and realigning some sections (including merging the Friday BayLife into the tabloid Friday Extra) in a cost-cutting move. Fewer than 10 of those cuts are expected to come in the newsroom and bureaus.
Tribune Publisher Denise Palmer said in a TBO.com story, ÒOur decision to part with valued employees was difficult, and we very
much appreciate the contributions of all those who will be affected by
todayÕs announcement."
Now here's the kicker: Despite the announcement today, it could take until Friday for staffers there to find out if they are getting the axe or not. Gonna be more than a few sleepless nights, and our prayers are with all the editorial folks at the Media General-owned property.
Palmer told me that she is looking to re-tool the paper's focus to be "intensely local, and extremely useful" for readers in its core circ areas of Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk and Pinellas counties. As part of cost-reductions, circulation in Citrus, Manatee and Hardee counties is being discontinued, she said.
Among the culprits is slower real-estate advertising, which had been up 100 percent in February 2006 over February 2005 , she said. This year, all of Florida's newspapers saw "a major correction" in those numbers. Translated: revenues are way off.
Feel however you want about the newspaper or the MSM in general, but the fact is we in Tampa Bay are remarkably spoiled by having two excellent and competitive newspapers. Few metro areas can boast that any more.
This article appears in Apr 4-10, 2007.