Star Trib to cut 145 jobs

Bowing to the pressures of declining circulation and falling revenue, the Star Tribune on Monday announced a plan to cut 145 employees through buyouts or, if enough people don’t volunteer, layoffs.

The cuts represent 7 percent of the company’s 2,100 positions and include 50 positions out of 383 people in the news and editorial departments.

Publisher Par Ridder delivered the news in a companywide meeting in which he laid out the increasingly bleak fortunes for metropolitan daily newspapers. The company’s annual advertising and circulation revenue has fallen by $64 million during the past three years.

Classified advertising was down 23 percent in the first quarter over last year.

If current trends continue, Ridder said, the paper would begin to lose money in a year to 18 months.

“I think it’s probable that we can get the Star Tribune growing again, but clearly we are in a very difficult period,” he said.

Click on the headline to read the story by Matt McKinney in the Star Tribune. You may need to register.

Read Par Ridder memo on the subject