'Arnie Garson Takes Over At Louisville and Fires 15 People' --- Plus News Of More Bad Things Happening In Gannett Newsrooms

Several readers have pointed me in the direction of the Gannett Blog, which is staying on top of the job cuts at newspapers in the large chain.

It could very well be that some bylines that all of us are familiar with at papers such as the Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen [which both are Gannett papers] could be eliminated.

It was earlier reported that 12 or 13 jobs could be dumped at the Register.

The hammer is falling at the Louisville Courier-Journal, where former Register managing editor and reporter Arnie Garson was recently brought in as publisher. Here's what the Courier-Journal reported today:

"The Courier-Journal will lay off about 15 employees and leave other positions vacant as part of a broader cost-cutting move by the newspaper’s parent, Gannett Co., the newspaper announced today.

"An unspecified number of jobs will be cut at the Courier-Journal by not filling vacant positions. Overall Gannett will eliminate about 1,000 positions, or 3 percent of its total work force.

"Arnold Garson, publisher of the paper, said in a memo to employees that the local layoffs aren’t as deep as those experienced at many other metro newspapers this year.

“'As you all know, the newspaper industry — like many other businesses and industries — is in the midst of a difficult economic time,' Garson wrote, adding that the company doesn’t see the present trend of declining revenues improving anytime soon.

"Layoff notices will be completed by Aug. 27, Garson said, and severance packages will be offered to those who lose their jobs. Severance and continued medical benefits will be based on length of service.

"Garson said in his memo that any future job eliminations will depend on whether revenue continues to decline.

“'We have no choice but to keep expense trends consistent with our revenue trends,'he said.

It's now obvious that Garson was brought in by Gannett to be the hatchetman and lower the boom on the Courier-Journal employees.

"Arnie Garson takes over at Louisville and fires 15 people," is the way Bud Appleby, a retired Des Moines Register writer and editor described the Courier-Journal situation to me.

And, while on the subject of hatchetmen...Just think, somebody named Mike Gartner -- surely you remember him, don't you? -- was once brought in by Gannett to kill the afternoon paper in Louisville.

The rest of the report in the Gannett Blog:

Earlier: A Maryland publisher told employees late Wednesday afternoon that Gannett is eliminating 1,000 newspaper jobs, or about 3 percent of the troubled newspaper division's workforce -- and that about 600 employees are being laid off, a Gannett Blog reader says.

The reader provided a copy of a memo that Daily Times publisher Rick Jensen e-mailed about 4 p.m. today at the paper in Salisbury. "Across Gannett’s Community Publishing division, about 1,000 positions will be eliminated -- about 3 percent of the workforce,'' the memo says. "Of the 1,000 positions, about 600 employees will be laid off."

Jensen would be the first Gannett executive to publicly confirm recent speculation that GCI is cutting jobs across the company -- and the first executive to disclose details of such cuts. A broad downsizing would come as the nation's top newspaper publisher reels from its surprisingly weak second-quarter earnings. That report sent Gannett shares plunging to new lows, further raising investor pressure on CEO Craig Dubow and his senior team.

I've asked chief Gannett flak Tara Connell for comment. I've e-mailed Jensen, and Daily Times Executive Editor Greg Bassett as well. Moments ago, Bassett e-mailed this reply, saying only: "Jim Hopkins is in my in box? All the way from Europe? I must be big time! Cheers!"

The memo does not say whether every one of the newspaper division's 84 papers will reduce employment by 3 percent -- or whether the rates might instead vary by business within what's now called the U.S. Community Publishing division. The memo also doesn't give a timetable for these division-wide cuts.

Several GCI papers have already made recent job cuts, but at a higher rate: 5%. The division's dailies do not include USA Today, suggesting that any further reductions at Gannett's flagship could be on top of the 1,000 jobs eliminated. U.S. Community Publishing employs up to 32,800 -- the lion's share of GCI's 46,000 employees.

Jensen disclosed the broad downsizing in a memo that tells his own paper's 275 workers that some of them will lose their jobs as soon as next week, the e-mail provided to me says.

"We're being faced with another difficult round of position reductions because of the continuing decline in economic conditions,'' the memo says. "Gannett has set payroll expense reduction targets for us and all other newspapers in the U.S. Community Publishing division, necessitating the reduction in positions. The targets were set based on our financial performance and previous reductions."

The memo continues: "Our position reduction plan is now at Corporate for review. We expect to receive final approval by Monday, and affected employees will be notified by next Thursday."

The memo also says "affected employees will be offered a severance package. Benefits include one week of pay for each year of service (52 week maximum); minimum two-week severance benefit; medical benefits will continue for the length of the severance period."

Can anyone confirm -- and add details? Have any other publishers cited the 1,000 jobs/600 layoffs figures in recent memos? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.