The Medium, The Message

The Miami Herald, a McClatchy newspaper, announced the elimination of 24 positions Wednesday and a reduction in hours “for departments directly related to newspaper production,” Editor & Publisher reports.

McClatchy Watch has Publisher David Landsberg’s e-mail to employees.

All hourly staffers in Prepress, Printing Operations, Electric Shop, Machine Shop, Packaging and Transportation will see their work weeks reuced to 37.5 hours, according to the New Times of Broward-Palm Beach, which has Landsberg’s and Executive Editor Anders Gyllenhaal’s e-mails.

“In the newsroom, this will mean the loss of six full-time positions, one part-time position and reductions in hours for several staff members, most of them editors and supervisors,” Gyllenhall says. “Those affected were contacted first thing this morning.”

Newsroom cuts include an assigning editor, two copy editors, two designers, a photo editor and a part-time librarian, New Times says.

“We’ve worked to keep the number of jobs lost as low as possible and have tried to avoid impact on newsgathering. For this reason, no reporter or photographer positions will be involved. The reduction for El Nuevo Herald will be one and a half positions, both editing posts.”

But, “For a newsroom of 200 staffers and a media company with about 900 employees, (this week’s) cuts are not enormous,” the New Times says. According to its count, “In 2008, the Herald eliminated more than 370 jobs through layoffs and buyouts. This March,  175 more jobs disappeared, followed by 16 more in August.”