Scripps shutters Albuquerque Tribune amid slowdown

(Adds background, job cuts at other newspapers)

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The Albuquerque Tribune will publish its last edition on Saturday after owner EW Scripps Co (SSP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it found no buyers for the paper, the latest casualty in the beleaguered newspaper business.

Scripps said it notified the Tribune's 38 editorial employees on Wednesday of the closure and offered them severance packages. Circulation at the New Mexico paper had dwindled to about 10,000 from 42,000 in 1988, Scripps said.

The decision ends the nation's oldest joint operating agreement, under which the Tribune was published afternoons Monday through Saturday and the larger Albuquerque Journal was the daily morning newspaper, Scripps said.

"The loss of the Albuquerque Tribune is profoundly sad for the community, its dedicated staff and all of those great journalists" who worked there, said Rich Boehne, chief operating officer at Scripps.

The closing comes as Bay Area News Group, the San Francisco-area publisher controlled by MediaNews Group Inc, offers buyouts to about 1,100 employees to cut costs. Bay Area News Group's papers include the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times and the Oakland Tribune.

The newspaper industry has been in a steep decline as advertisers switch to the Internet. The New York Times Co (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said last week it would cut 100 newsroom jobs at its flagship newspaper as it girds for a weaker U.S. economy.

The Albuquerque Journal, owned by Journal Publishing Co, will continue to be published daily and Sundays in the mornings, Scripps said in a statement.

Scripps said last August it was looking for a buyer for the Tribune or would cease its publication after determining the Albuquerque newspaper market could no longer support a separate afternoon paper.