Daily Press newspaper to cut jobs in editing, designing

The Daily Press in Newport News soon will eliminate most of its positions for copy editors and designers, the newspaper's publisher, Digby Solomon, said Tuesday.

Their responsibilities will be moved to the newsroom of the Chicago Tribune, the flagship of Tribune Co., which is the parent company of the Daily Press.

"Nobody enjoys telling people that they don't have a job," Solomon said. "That's the nasty part of it. But if we want to provide jobs for a majority of people and if we want to keep newspapers alive, we're going to have to be creative about this."

Solomon said he didn't know how many people would lose their jobs, but he estimated the cuts would affect more than 10 percent of the newsroom staff, which he said totals 84. Those affected will be informed beginning next week, he said.

The move, Solomon said, could save the newspaper $1 million a year.

The articles that will be edited in Chicago will primarily be national and international stories from wire services that don't require local expertise, he said. The Daily Press will continue to have editors and copy editors who will edit local articles.

Newspapers nationwide are struggling with Internet competition and shrinking advertising revenue and circulation.

"It's very clear what direction, if they want to survive, newspapers have to go in," Solomon said. "Newspapers have to focus on their truly differentiating expertise, which for most local papers is local content and watchdog journalism."

Solomon said the idea for the change was his and originated from his previous experience as publisher of Hoy, Tribune's Spanish newspaper.

Gary Weitman, senior vice president of corporate relations at Tribune Co., called the reorganization a "pilot project" for the company. "We're hopeful that we can use the learnings from this to improve our local coverage everywhere," Weitman said.

Also at the Daily Press, Solomon said the newspaper next week will begin adding pages for local, national and international news.

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com