Tribune to redesign papers, job cuts possible

By Robert MacMillan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tribune Co plans to redesign its financially struggling newspapers in the next few months to save money while making them more appealing to readers, a move that could lead to more job cuts.

Tribune plans to shift to a 50-50 mix of advertisements and news and other content for its papers. In some cases it will trim the number of pages, Chief Operating Officer Randy Michaels said on a conference call with lenders who helped finance the company's $8.2 billion buyout led by real estate magnate Sam Zell.

"When you look at the number of ads in the newspaper, on some days, the paper's two-thirds ads, but other days the number of ads is a lot less," Michael said. "We decided, just as a sort of arbitrary starting point, that the paper looks pretty good at about 50 percent advertising."

That does not count all-advertising sections and classified ads, he added.

The idea is to cut production costs, which Michaels said accounts for 88 percent of the expense of putting out Tribune's papers.

Cutting jobs could follow, including in the newsroom, where Tribune has been reviewing the productivity of each reporter.

"When you get into the individuals, you find you can eliminate a fair number of people, while not eliminating very much content," Michaels said.

Tribune previously said in February that it planned to cut up to 2 percent of its staff, or as many as 500 workers.