The San Francisco Chronicle, the largest newspaper in the San Francisco Bay Area, may have to close its doors if it cannot layoff a significant number of employees within weeks, its parent company Hearst said in a statement.
From the statement:
“San Francisco Chronicle newspaper is undertaking critical cost-saving measures including a significant reduction in the number of its unionized and nonunion employees. If these savings cannot be accomplished within weeks…the Company will be forced to sell or close the newspaper.”
“Because of the sea change newspapers everywhere are undergoing and these dire economic times, it is essential that our management and the local union leadership work together to implement the changes necessary to bring the cost of producing the Chronicle into line with available revenue.”
Given the losses the Chronicle continues to sustain, the time to implement these changes cannot be long. These changes are designed to give the Chronicle the best possible chance to survive and continue to serve the people of the Bay Area with distinction, as it has since 1865. Survival is the outcome we all want to achieve. But without the specific changes we are seeking across the entire Chronicle organization, we will have no choice but to quickly seek a buyer for the Chronicle or, should a buyer not be found, to shut the newspaper down.”
This isn’t really surprising news. Not more than three years ago the paper was losing $1 million every week. That was during an economic expansion, though. Things will only get worse.
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