Herald announces job cuts as weak revenue continues

Sports editor Gary McCann to retire

From Staff Reports - The Herald

The Herald plans to eliminate seven positions and consolidate some newsroom and business operations with The Charlotte Observer, a new round of money-saving changes to deal with continued weak revenue.

Sports editor Gary McCann will retire, the paper announced. McCann joined The Herald in 1998 after working in North Carolina and Indiana for 27 years. Last year, McCann was one of three inductees into the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Hall of Fame.

Publisher Debbie Abels outlined the moves Tuesday in a meeting with staffers.

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“Like most businesses in our area, we're still recovering from the effects of the recession,” Abels said in an interview. “We certainly saw improvement in 2009, but not yet to the levels where we can be complacent. We need to keep at it.”

On Tuesday, The Observer announced it would eliminate 25 full-time jobs, including the equivalent of 11 full-time newsroom positions.

Under the changes announced Tuesday, page design and copy editing functions for The Herald's news, sports and features sections will move to Charlotte. The papers' photographers also will train together, share equipment, and help each other during times of short staffing.

The finance and circulation departments will be further merged into the Charlotte office.

Herald and Observer newsrooms moved to the same computer system over the past year, gaining technology that makes it easier to share duties.

Amid the changes, Abels and editor Paul Osmundson emphasized that decisions about content will be made in Rock Hill. Local news reporters are not part of the consolidation.

“When readers pick up a Herald in the morning, it shouldn't feel different to them,” Abels said.

Osmundson stressed The Herald still is a local paper.

"We're sad to say goodbye to colleagues who have contributed so much to both The Herald and heraldonline.com,” Osmundson said. “I'll always value their passion for newspapers and for good journalism.

“In the current economy, all companies are searching for ways to be more efficient. We believe combining circulation, page design and other functions will help us accomplish that. But it's important to note that editorial decisions will be made in Rock Hill.

“While we'll work even closer with The Observer, The Herald's reporters and editors will determine what stories to pursue and where they will be displayed in the newspaper.”

The company-wide changes leave The Herald with the equivalent of 79 full-time employees.

The Herald is owned by The McClatchy Co. of Sacramento, Calif., which also has been cutting costs and jobs. The company is saddled with nearly $2 billion in debt incurred when it bought the Knight Ridder chain, giving it 30 daily newspapers and 50 non-dailies.

Like other McClatchy papers, The Herald already has taken a number of steps to reduce costs.

Presses went quiet at the paper's downtown Rock Hill facility last year after company officials moved printing operations to Charlotte. Additionally, employees saw salary reductions from 2.5 percent to 10 percent, depending on their level of pay.

Some indicators suggest the low point already has been reached. When the latest earnings are announced, McClatchy is expected to report that fourth-quarter revenue fell by a percentage point in the low to mid-20s, compared with a 28 percent drop in the third quarter.

Other McClatchy-owned papers have announced layoffs. The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., announced 20 job cuts in its newsroom last week. The State in Columbia eliminated 12 and dropped its weekend home section.