Blathnaid Healy’s Blog

Newspaper publisher Gannett has confirmed today that it is cutting 1000 jobs.

According to WSJ.com the group will lay off 600 newspaper staffers and the remaining 400 will come through retirements and positions being left vacant.

The cuts will be made across 84 of the 85 daily newspapers (but not at USA Today which is in a separate division to the other daily papers) 100 websites and hundreds of non-daily papers.

Jim Hopkins over at Gannett Blog says staff were notified yesterday and today the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky was the first to announce lay offs.

And you can see it here.

As I said, thoughts on this will follow later.

From Monday The Irish Times’ website will be free to access, according to an article on page three of today’s newspaper written by the Editor Geraldine Kennedy.

The site is moving to irishtimes.com and ireland.com will become a separate, commercial site.

The new site will offer ‘richer content in the form of pictures, graphics, audio and video’. The article also talks about developing many multimedia features.

People who are paid-up subscribers to the site will get a full refund, or as Ms Kennedy notes could instead become members of the new Irish Times Crossword Club. In fact they can try out the new club before making a decision. Although with this economic downturn upon us I can imagine what most will do…cash is king after all!

You can read the story online here, I’d have put it up earlier but couldn’t find it free-to-view at first.

Going to digest this story a little this morning and write more on what they plan for their new website later on.

Here’s what the Guardian printed on the front page of today’s newspaper about Dunnes Stores:

The Guardian and Observer are no longer available for sale in Dunnes Stores following a dispute over commercial terms. Dunnes Store are refusing to stock both titles after Guardian News & Media rejected demands for new commercial terms over and above those agreed with all other retailers in Ireland. The Guardian and Observer will continue to be available at all other outlets.