* Third round of furloughs announced this year
* Furloughs to come in 1st-qtr 2010
* USA Today cuts 26 newsroom jobs
NEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Gannett Co Inc GCI.N, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, will furlough workers in its U.S. local newspaper division to save money as advertising revenue declines.
In a separate action, USA Today, Gannett’s largest newspaper, is also cutting 26 newsroom positions, according to a memo obtained by Reuters. USA Weekend is cutting 11 jobs. The memo was sent to employees on Tuesday.
The furloughs, which will last up to a week depending on the employees, affect workers at Gannett’s local papers around the United States, according to a separate memo. Corporate employees and some workers at its digital unit will also be affected.
Employees at the national daily newspaper USA Today and Gannett’s local television station division will not be affected by the furloughs, company spokeswoman Robin Pence said on Tuesday.
“The rationale is the view that the economy remains fragile and the company thinks it’s important to take a more conservative approach to business to maintain momentum going into the new year,” Pence said. “But we’re seeing encouraging trends in our business.”
Non-unionized workers at the local newspaper division will be furloughed, Pence said.
Unionized workers will be subject to the same furloughs. Gannett is discussing terms with union representatives at its newspapers.
Word of the furloughs came in a memo from Bob Dickey, chief of Gannett’s U.S. Community Publishing unit. It was first posted on the Poynter Institute’s news media blog on Tuesday.
Pence declined to comment on how much the company might save from the furloughs.
It is not the first time Gannett has implemented furloughs. In January, the company said it would make workers take a week off without pay because of what it called some of the most difficult advertising conditions it has ever encountered.
Another round followed in March.
“No one on the Gannett Management Committee makes these decisions lightly, and we understand and appreciate the difficulties furloughs have placed on many of you and your families,” Dickey said in the memo.
The USA Today layoffs follow hundreds of job cuts and buyouts at U.S. newspapers and magazines, including Forbes magazine, Time Warner's TWX.N Time Inc, The Associated Press, BusinessWeek, The Washington Post WPO.N and The New York Times NYT.N.
“While advertising is showing some signs of picking up, the economic outlook for 2010 remains weak and the decline in travel has contributed to a recent drop in circulation, hence the need to reduce costs,” Editor John Hillkirk wrote in the memo to USA Today staff.
Gannett has cut several thousand jobs since 2008 as advertising revenue plunged and more people abandoned print newspaper subscriptions for free news online.
The company declined to say how many workers it employs in its U.S. newspaper division.
Gannett shares closed up 12 cents, or 1.21 percent, at $10.01 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Robert MacMillan; Additional reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz, Toni Reinhold) ((robert.macmillan@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6012; Reuters Messaging: robert.macmillan.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Clickhere to see Reuters MediaFile blog
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