McClatchy to cut 10% of workers

McClatchy Co., the No. 3 newspaper company in the country, said Monday that it was slashing 1,400 jobs in the latest effort to cut costs amid rapidly dwindling advertising revenue.

The cuts represent about 10% of the Sacramento-based company’s workforce.

McClatchy, which publishes 30 daily newspapers including the Miami Herald and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, also reported a 15.4% decline in advertising revenue in the first five months of the year.

The cuts at McClatchy come amid a broad retrenchment in the U.S. newspaper industry as the economic downturn combined with competition for classified advertising from online rivals such as Craigslist has resulted in a steep slump in ad revenue.

McClatchy spokeswoman Elaine Lintecum said the cuts would be spread throughout the company and would come through a combination of voluntary departures, layoffs and attrition.

McClatchy, which is still working to reduce debt from its $4-billion purchase of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain in 2006, said it had already reduced head count by 13% from the end of 2006 through April of this year.

McClatchy’s shares fell 11 cents to $8.04 on Monday.