US: Newsweek loses 111 staff members

Posted by Carolyn Lo on April 1, 2008 at 10:04 AM

Last week, 111 Newsweek staffers on its news and business sides accepted a buyout. The magazine will lose much of its institutional memory and some of its most talented writers and editors by the end of the year.

146 staffers out of around 230 (a 2007 number according to State of the News Media) were offered the chance to leave the magazine with a good severance package. Though some of these jobs will be re-filled, many positions will be permanently eliminated.

All of the chief researchers are leaving, including Nancy Stadtman, Ray Sawhill and Ray Anello, and their positions may be eliminated. Long serving journalists such as David Gates, David Ansen and Cathleen McGuigan have also accepted the package.

Following The New York Times and The Washington Post, Newsweek is the third major news organization to offer buyouts to a significant amount of staff this year. As revenues and circulation continue to decline, mostly due to the impact of the Internet, more and more staff may be offered a buyout.

To see newsroom changes from 1983-2007 in Times and Newsweek, go to the State of the News Media Report.

Source: RadarOnline through Poynter Romenesko, Journalism.org