The Colorado Springs Gazette on Friday laid off 25 workers, about 5 percent of its workforce. It will also eliminate eight positions that are currently vacant.
The newspaper made the cuts to reduce costs and eliminate worker overlap in certain parts of the paper, said Scott McKibben, president and publisher.
“The media landscape is changing,” said McKibben, adding that automation in the packaging and mailing departments predicated some of the cuts. “These are positions that we do not need going forward.”
The Gazette is among dozens of newspapers that have trimmed staff in recent years, in part because readers and advertisers have moved to the Internet and other media outlets.
McKibben declined to say how many of the cuts were in the paper’s newsroom, where it employs 115 workers. The paper employs about 475 workers.
“These (cuts) were spread throughout the newspaper,” he said.
“There were some tears and some hugging,” said a worker who was laid off after decades in the business.
“This all happened pretty quickly,” the worker said.
The Gazette is owned by Irvine, Calif.-based Freedom Communications, a privately held company with more than 70 newspapers and nine broadcast TV stations nationwide.
The Gazette has a daily circulation of 100,000 and a Sunday circulation of 110,000.
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-954-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
