Greenspun Media, parent of the Las Vegas Sun, has begun merging their print and online assets in the Las Vegas area.

The staffs of Greenspun's eight media properties will merge into single teams of editorial, advertising, and support for all the media outlets concerned. This combines the editorial, online, advertising, marketing, production, human resources and finance departments for the Las Vegas Sun and its Web site.

However, the other individual newspapers involved in the merger will continue to be sold separately. No word yet on whether this will effect the content of these papers.

This merge also saw the layoffs of as many as 25 staffers at the Sun as general cost cuts continue at Greenspun properties, although official comments or figures have not been released.

Brian Greenspun, CEO and editor of the Sun, said "we must face up to both the challenges and the opportunities of the world we're living in. We feel it's time to unite our media into a more progressive and audience-driven model."

This model also serves advertising interests looking for space in multiple platforms with flexible options.

Time will tell whether coalescing multiple teams together under one rubric will bring the desired cost-cutting effects and increased efficiency. There is a potential for homogenization of content in the titles involved, since everything will be coming from central teams.

Sources: paidContent, AP