Washington Post Offers Newspaper Buyouts, May Impose Job Cuts; Shares Rise

[marmar]

Washington Post Offers Buyouts at Flagship Newspaper (Update1)
By Greg Bensinger


March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Post Co. offered voluntary buyouts to employees at its flagship newspaper as advertising and circulation revenue decline.

The buyout program was announced today in a memo to employees by Publisher Katharine Weymouth. Chief Executive Officer Donald Graham said in a letter to shareholders released yesterday that the newspaper “will lose substantial money” this year after an “embarrassing” 2008.

“I am sorry to say that we cannot rule out layoffs in the future,” Weymouth said in the memo, without specifying how many jobs the company was trying to eliminate. A company spokeswoman, Kris Coratti, confirmed the memo.

The buyouts were prompted in part by the planned closure of a printing plant in College Park, Maryland, in the second half, Coratti said. Some employees in the production, circulation, news, advertising and information technology departments are eligible.

The publisher’s newspaper division, which includes the Post’s Web site and the Daily Herald of Everett, Washington, swung to an operating loss of $192.7 million last year from a $66.4 million profit in 2007.

Washington Post gained $1.11 to $378.46 at 10:05 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had declined 3.3 percent this year before today.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aloDyEs5EF4M&refer=home

[LiberalEsto]

1. Not only that, they're cutting "Zippy the Pinhead"

The Post is reducing its comics section from 3 pages to 2. Two of my favorite strips, "Zippy the Pinhead" and "The Piranha Club," will only be available on-line.

The Post just did a large number of buyouts in the past year or so. I can't believe they want to do another round.