Raytown Tribune: Unknown

Raytown, Mo.
Owner: NPG Newspapers
Effective: 2008
NPG Newspapers cut 60 jobs in 2008.
Source: St. Joseph News-Press

News-Press responds to economic downturn

by St. Joseph News-Press
Tuesday, February 17, 2009

All employees of the St. Joseph News-Press have been directed to take off one week off without pay by mid-July, as part of cost-cutting efforts by the newspaper’s management.

“We’re not immune to what is happening in the economy,” Lee Sawyer, general manager of NPG Newspapers, said Monday.

The recession has caused many businesses to cut back on advertising, which has reduced revenues for the newspaper, Mr. Sawyer said.

The furloughs will affect all 390 employees in NPG’s newspaper division, including the News-Press, Atchison (Kan.) Globe and Hiawatha (Kan.) World, and newspapers in Warrensburg and the Kansas City metro area.

The company also announced that all wages would be frozen at current levels until economic conditions improve.

“We felt like this was a better way to go than to reduce staff,” Mr. Sawyer said.

The newspaper division has 60 fewer employees than it did last year. Many of the jobs have been eliminated by not filling open positions.

The News-Press also implemented several changes at the beginning of the year to reduce printing costs.

“We’re just keeping a close eye on it and will do what we can to get through this,” Mr. Sawyer said. “We’re hopeful things will start to turn around by the second half of the year.”