THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606220271
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: 28 lines
The Daily Press, the Newport News-based newspaper, is laying off nine editorial employees because of declining advertising revenue, its publisher confirmed Friday.
``It's a response to a lower level of advertising revenue for 1996 than we expected,'' said Jack W. Davis Jr., Daily Press publisher and president.
The Daily Press circulates 101,000 daily newspapers and 126,000 Sunday newspapers, mostly on the Peninsula. It is owned by Chicago-based Tribune Co.
Davis attributed a 9.6 percent decline in advertising column inches to a flat economy in Hampton Roads.
Editorial was the only department to be cut, and the layoffs were mixed among reporters, editors and other newsroom personnel, Davis said. The editorial department had about 155 employees before the layoffs, Davis said.
``I don't think the reader will notice the difference,'' Davis said.
The newspaper employs the equivalent of 557 full-time workers.
Besides the Daily Press, Tribune owns the Chicago Tribune, the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, the Orlando Sentinel, several television stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The Tribune bought the Daily Press in 1986.
The Tribune reported a 6 percent decline in operating profit at its newspapers in the first quarter. The Daily Press accounts for 4 percent of Tribune's newspaper revenues. by CNB