Newspaper Layoffs Ease in September

September was one of the best months of the year for journalists on the job front, as for the second month in a row layoffs started to ease at American newspapers. Only 347 layoffs were reported.

Sept. 24: Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call in Washington, D.C., 44 staffers. Senior editor Brian Nutting was dismissed after questioning the layoffs in a memo.
Sept. 23: The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, 12 people.
Sept. 17: The San Francisco Chronicle, five people.
Sept. 15: News-Journal Corp., based in Daytona Beach, Fla., 39 people from various publications. These layoffs include 14 editorial employees.
Sept. 14: Triple Crown Media Inc. declares bankruptcy. The group owns the Albany Herald, Gwinnett Daily Post, Newton Citizen, Rockdale Citizen, Clayton News Daily, Henry Daily Herald and the Jackson Progress-Argus. All in Georgia. The company, which laid off 5 percent of its workforce early last year, did not reveal any numbers for 2009. It currently employs about 330 people.
Sept. 9: Gannett Co. Inc., 1,474 newspaper people. This is the running total from Gannetoid.com, and is 143 more than the total News Cycle listed on July 2. Gannett told the website the Fort Collins (Colo.) Coloradoan layoff of nine people on Aug. 21 is not included in this count. It does include 79 people from The Westchester (N.Y.) County Journal News on Aug. 28.
Sept. 8: El Dia of Houston ceases publication. Ten people laid off.
Sept. 4: The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, 20 people.
Sept. 4: San Francisco Chronicle, four people in advertising department.
Sept. 3: Sun-Times Media Group of Chicago, 70 people in Pioneer Press printing operations.

Here are News Cycle's month-by-month lists of newspaper job cuts this year:

December -- 752 people.
November -- 293 people.
October -- 375 people.
September -- 347 people.
August -- 425 people.
July -- 2,505 people.
June -- 318 people.
May -- 1,084 people.
April -- 1,350 people.
March -- 3,943 people.
February -- 1,492 people.
January -- 2,256 people.

Email me to report any job cuts in the newspaper industry.