NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Employees at San Francisco Bay-Area newspapers owned by MediaNews Group Inc. should expect layoffs in the near future because of poor advertising and changes to their business, according to a publisher's memo.
The papers, owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc., include the Oakland Tribune, the Hayward Daily Review and the San Mateo County Times.
MediaNews also owns the Contra Costa Times, which it bought from McClatchy Co. (MNI.N: Quote, Profile , Research) in June after that company bought it as part of Knight Ridder Inc.
"Over the past several months, as revenue conditions have weakened, we have relied on attrition ... to reduce the size of our organizations, but the attrition has not been adequate," publisher John Armstrong wrote in the memo, sent on Oct. 31.
"Some number of layoffs should be anticipated in the weeks ahead, either due to a slumping advertising market or as a result of changes in the way we will conduct our business," he wrote.
The East Bay Express published the memo on its Web site, and Armstrong verified it. He declined to say how many people would lose their jobs.
The cuts are the latest in an ongoing trickle of layoffs and buyouts that U.S. newspaper publishers are conducting as circulation falls and advertising revenue languishes as readers move to the Internet and other media.
The announcement comes after the San Jose Mercury News reported on Oct. 20 that it would shed 101 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its work force, because of newspaper industry revenue declines.
MediaNews bought the paper from McClatchy, which got it from Knight Ridder. It is part of the MediaNews-controlled California Newspapers Partnership, which is partially owned by Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and Stephens Media Group.
The partnership replaced the publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News, and plans to cut 21 jobs at that paper, the Daily News reported on Oct. 30.
Separately, the privately held Copley Press is offering buyouts to senior employees at The San Diego Union-Tribune as it reins in costs, the paper reported on Wednesday.
