MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Facing revenue and circulation declines, the Star Tribune said Monday it would eliminate 145 positions, or about 7 percent of its work force.
The cuts will include about 50 positions in the newsroom, the paper said, and a voluntary buyout program has been proposed to the Newspaper Guild, which represents newsroom workers.
The paper said about two-thirds of the jobs to be eliminated would come through voluntary buyouts but that it would use layoffs if too few workers leave on their own. The paper said it would also leave open positions unfilled and streamline work processes to save money.
"The newspaper business model has changed and this restructuring will allow us to align more resources with what readers and advertisers are demanding from us," Publisher and Chief Executive Par Ridder said in a prepared statement. He said revenue has been declining since 2004.
The Star Tribune employs 2,100 people, including about 375 in the newsroom, it said. In March, 24 newsroom workers took voluntary buyouts triggered by McClatchy Co.'s sale of the paper to Avista Capital Partners.
The new buyouts would include a year's pay for staffers who have been at the paper for 26 years or more.
Average weekday circulation at the Star Tribune dropped 4.9 percent to 345,252 during the six-month period ending in March.
