Newspapers See Writing On the Wall --Cagle

Despite having a robust weekday circulation of 117,000 in a major U.S. city, the paper has endured operating losses since 2000, capped by a $14 million hit in 2008. An online version of the paper could continue, with a considerably smaller staff, Hearst Corp. told employees in its WARN letter.

The Seattle newspaper is not alone in these struggles and, as this modern depression intensifies, many more titles will break rather than bend. The Philadelphia Inquirer, which I can see outside my office window, is cut to the bone staff-wise. A friend who works in the Gannett chain was forced to take an unpaid week’s vacation in the first quarter of 2009, as were all employees of his paper.