05:47 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Associated Press

The Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle collectively cut more than 300 jobs Wednesday as part of cost saving measures at both Texas newspapers.

The Chronicle cut 243 jobs, nearly 10 percent of its work force, through voluntary buyouts, elimination of open positions and layoffs.

The Dallas Morning News, the flagship newspaper of Dallas-based Belo Corp., laid off dozens of employees, but the company did not provide an exact number. Managing Editor George Rodrigue told employees about 60 newsroom employees had been laid off and about 20 other news positions cut.

“We’ve done some awful things to a lot of good folks,” Rodrigue told staffers.

Belo announced last month it would cut 250 jobs, about 3 percent of its workforce. Nearly half the cuts were expected at The Morning News, which has been shaken by circulation overstatements.

Publisher James Moroney said Wednesday he’s concerned the layoffs will hurt employee morale.

“It’s a difficult and very sad day for The Dallas Morning News,” Moroney said. “The people who lost their jobs today, I think it’s very important that we acknowledge the many contributions that those people made to this newspaper.”

But Moroney said he’s confident that the cuts won’t affect the quality of the nearly 120-year-old newspaper.

“It’s wrongheaded to start measuring quality by quantity when you have a staff as large as The Dallas Morning News,” Moroney said. “I believe that the people who are still here at The Dallas Morning News, and I believe most of the people who lost their jobs today, know that this is an excellent newspaper.”

The Morning News had about 2,300 full-time employees before the layoffs.

A majority of the Chronicle reductions, 64 percent, were in contract labor and outside positions, the newspaper said. Twenty-eight percent came through voluntary buyouts and the elimination of open positions, and 8 percent were layoffs.

The Chronicle, owned by The Hearst Corporation, said it provided severance packages and job placement services to employees who left the paper and that nearly all jobs in its news and advertising divisions remained intact.

Chronicle Publisher and President Jack Sweeney announced the restructuring in late September. He said the newspaper needed to trim costs in order to increase circulation, readership and advertising revenue.

Belo said its layoffs were the result of flat revenues since 2001 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where it also owns a television station.

Belo disclosed Aug. 5 that the Morning News had overstated newspaper sales as of September 2003. Advertisers overpaid because rates are usually based on circulation.

Belo is paying $23 million in cash and another $4 million on extra newsprint for make-good ads, and taking a $26 million charge against earnings to compensate advertisers for the mistake.