The Roanoke Times laid off employees Wednesday, an action the paper says will make the operation “more efficient and locally focused.”
31 positions vanished. The paper says the reductions will be a net improvement and it will “add news gathering resources.” But two sources tell Poynter the newsroom lost five positions, including two reporters.
Warren Buffett’s media group bought the Times in May. In July, the paper replaced Editor Carole Tarrant with Joseph P. Stinnett. Also in July, the Tulsa World, which Buffett picked up in February, announced it would eliminate about 50 positions, deliver newspapers to distribution centers rather than “drop points” for carriers and move to nonproprietary software.
The (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record has had two rounds of layoffs since Buffett bought the paper in January. And last year Buffett’s group closed the Manassas (Va.) News & Messenger, citing the difficulties the paper was having competing in the greater Washington, D.C., area.
