The News & Observer in Raleigh could lose some employees as the News & Observer Publishing Company is offering voluntary buyouts to roughly 200 employees.
RALEIGH -- The News & Observer in Raleigh could lose some employees as the News & Observer Publishing Company is offering voluntary buyouts to roughly 200 employees, but managers don't expect everyone will take the offer.
"We've offered the voluntary buyout to editors in news, sports, business, and features," explained John Drescher, the newspaper's executive editor. "We've also offered it to some folks in our news research department."
Employees have to decide by May 12 whether to take the buyout, which Drescher said does not affect reporters and photographers.
"In the newsroom we think that roughly three to five people will accept this voluntary buyout," Drescher said. "Very specifically, in this voluntary buyout we avoided losing any photographers, reporters, or graphic artists. So the people who generate the content will not be affected by this move."
Drescher said the move is necessary because newspapers across the country face tough times in the current economy, and they're losing advertising dollars because of the internet.
"I don't think we've ever gone this route before, and a lot of other newspapers are doing it too," Drescher said. "It's new for us, we don't like it. It's something that we wish we weren't doing, but bottom line is that we've got to bring our expenses in with our revenue."
He pointed out that "classified advertising is down rather dramatically due to changes involving the internet."
"Just in general, we -- like a lot of businesses -- have been hurt by the downturn in the economy this year," Drescher said.
Philip Meyer, a professor in the journalism department at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the voluntary buyouts are a sign of the times as newspapers nationwide struggle to attract readers.
"The New York Times just announced it, and if the New York Times has to do it then everybody's in trouble," said Meyer, who wrote a book, "The Vanishing Newspaper," about the struggles newspaper face. He said the internet is their greatest competition for advertising dollars.
"Before the internet came along, [newspapers] had a monopoly," Meyer explained. "If you wanted to advertise your house in the Triangle area, newspaper was practically the only way to do it."
But Drescher sees a reason to be optimistic.
"Our readership is doing quite well," he said. "Our Sunday circulation has grown 12 years in a row, our online readership is growing really well, and when you add those two numbers together our growth in readership is pretty impressive."