Media company E.W. Scripps Co. has announced voluntary buyouts for senior employees at two Tennessee newspapers as it tries to cut payroll.
The Commercial Appeal in Memphis and The Knoxville News Sentinel will offer voluntary separation packages to employees 55 and older who have at least 10 years of service.
The Memphis paper will offer buyouts to 64 employees, and the Knoxville paper will make the offer to 25 employees. The company did not say how many employees it expects to take the offer.
It’s the second time in less than two years that The Commercial Appeal has offered buyouts to senior employees.
“These are challenging times for the entire industry,” Commercial Appeal Publisher Joe Pepe said. “After weighing all of our options against the financial and organizational objectives, we decided this is the most painless way to make cuts.”
News Sentinel Publisher Bruce Hartmann announced the buyout, which includes separation pay and a health care benefit subsidy, in a letter to all employees.
“Although we have been careful in controlling our personnel costs, we must look for ways to reduce these costs even more,” Hartmann wrote. “We are offering this incentive so we can continue to prosper in the future.”
Cincinnati-based Scripps has also recently announced buyouts at the Ventura County (Calif.) Star and the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.
Last month, Scripps lowered its profit outlook for the first quarter, citing weaker-than-expected advertising sales at its newspapers.
Scripps owns 19 daily newspapers, 10 broadcast TV stations and five cable and satellite television networks such as the Food Network and HGTV.
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