Ssn Diego Union-Tribune cuts 192 positions

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Union-Tribune conducted a round of layoffs in all departments Thursday, the latest in a series of staff reductions the newspaper and its counterparts across the country have taken in recent years.

The move comes three days after Platinum Equity, a Beverly Hills private equity firm, completed its acquisition of the paper from its longtime owner, the Copley Press Inc.

A total of 192 positions will be eliminated, effective July 6, the company said in a statement. Senior managers told the affected employees Thursday in meetings organized by department. The company said employees will receive transition assistance and termination benefits.

The number of cuts in each department, including the newsroom, were not disclosed.

The 60-day notice is required under federal law for a company the size of the Union-Tribune when conducting more than 50 layoffs.

“These are tough times for the entire newspaper industry, and a time of transition for the Union-Tribune,” said Drew Schlosberg, the company's director of community and public relations. “Any decision to reduce staff is difficult.

“We will be working diligently to make the transition for those affected as easy as possible. ”

The company, which has had several rounds of buyouts and layoffs in recent years, will have about about 850 employees once the staff cuts become effective.

The Union-Tribune, like other large newspapers, has been hit by both declining print circulation as well as a decrease in advertising that has been accelerated by the recession.

Schlosberg said the paper has a late-week circulation (Thursday-Saturday) of just over 300,000 a day, with the daily paper estimated to reach more than 662,000 readers. Its Sunday circulation is 330,000, with a readership believed to be more than 890,000. The Union-Tribune's Web site, SignOnSanDiego, draws more than 3 million unique users each month.

The Union-Tribune won its fourth Pulitzer Prize this year, awarded to editorial cartoonist Steve Breen; and won the top award for general excellence for a large newspaper from the California Newspaper Publishers Association last year.