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Tribune Company to lay off 700 employees

The Los Angeles Times building. (Photo: Flickr / LA Wad)
The Los Angeles Times building. (Photo: Flickr / LA Wad)

The Tribune Company will lay off approximately 700 employees working in “non-editorial functions” of its eight newspapers, the latest round of job cuts to hit the media company as it prepares to separate its newspaper and broadcast products.

Newsroom employees will be included in this fresh round of layoffs, though front-line reporters and photographers are not expected to be among those who lose their jobs.

The company eliminated 360 positions within the first nine months of the year. This round of layoffs will bring the total number of jobs lost at Tribune Company to over 1,000 this year.

In June, nearly a dozen people lost their jobs during a “modest round of staff reductions” at the Los Angeles Times, Tribune’s west coast newspaper. Media reporter Jim Romenesko reported via a source that the paper lost “half the graphics department” and “a Metro reporter in Orange County.”

Tribune’s year-over-year profits have been down since the company emerged from bankruptcy on January 1. Though the company isn’t publicly traded, it is required to report its earnings as a condition of its emergence from bankruptcy.

The new layoffs come amid a September report in which CEO Peter Liguori was said to have ordered $100 million in budget cuts by December 1.

Tribune is preparing to separate its broadcast and publishing services into two different companies. It is widely believed that Tribune will sell off its papers once the company splits. Tribune will then focus its attention on its more-profitable broadcast and digital operations.

New York Times: Layoffs announced at the Tribune Company
Jim Romenesko: Full memo to Tribune employes by CEO Liguori on layoffs

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys covers the business of broadcast and streaming TV, radio broadcasting, social media, technology and telecommunications. A journalist for over 15 years, Matthew previously worked at Thomson Reuters, KGO-TV in San Francisco, KTXL in Sacramento and McNaughton Newspapers. He received 9 California Journalism Awards between 2018 and 2020, and is a member of IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors).
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