St. Paul Pioneer Press lays off 9 newsroom employees including Twins beat reporter

St. Paul Pioneer Press lays off 9 news employees

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul Pioneer Press laid off nine newsroom employees Tuesday, the paper’s editor told the staff.

In an e-mail to employees, Editor Thom Fladung said the layoffs were needed to deal with the challenges of a difficult economy and unprecedented change in the industry.

Those laid off included five copy editors, two page designers, Minnesota Twins beat reporter Phil Miller and photographer Brandi Thomas.

“These people are more than just a list of names in an e-mail,” Fladung wrote. “They are a talented and productive collection of journalists whose work here included designing dynamic pages, producing memorable photos and videos, covering one of our highest-profile beats in the Twins, writing vibrant headlines and saving us from ourselves by asking good questions and catching and correcting numerous errors of fact and nuance.”

The affected employees began getting the word Tuesday morning, said Mike Bucsko, executive officer of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union. The union planned to issue a statement later Tuesday.

The Pioneer Press has about 140 newsroom employees, and the Guild, its largest union, represents about 300 employees altogether.

Management asked the union last month for benefit and wage cuts in response to the economic downturn that it said would save the company more than $2 million, but reportedly later cut its demand to $1.1 million. Union employees voted in February to take unpaid one-week furloughs to help the newspaper cut costs.

Newspapers around the country have made similar cost-cutting moves.

The Pioneer Press, which bills itself as Minnesota’s oldest newspaper, is owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc., which operates 54 daily newspapers in 11 states.

On the Net:

Minnesota Newspaper Guild: www.mnguild.org