Chicago Tribune cuts 53 -- less than reported

The Chicago Tribune today reduced its newsroom staff, a response to the economic downturn and changes in the media business model.

The exit of 53 editorial employees is part of a paper-wide cost-cutting effort. Tribune Editor Gerould Kern said in a letter to staff that cuts are part of a newsroom reorganization that “will focus us more clearly on our core mission” going forward with a newsgathering team of around 430.

“With today’s actions, we are making the leap to a newsroom structure that we believe is sustainable barring further significant declines in advertising revenue,” Kern wrote. “While some are leaving now, others will join the newsroom over time as we invest in new skills necessary to grow in the future.”

The Chicago Sun-Times and Crain’s Chicago Business last week reported that the Tribune cuts would be far more severe.

These reductions are just the latest at the Chicago Tribune, which was said to have around 670 newsroom positions 3½ years ago. That’s about the time the newspaper industry’s revenue peaked according to statistics from the Newspaper Association of America.

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