Advance Publications also owns The Express-Times but Publisher Martin Till said there are no plans for job cuts or production changes in this region.
Songwriter, producer and performer Allan Toussaint plays for supporters of the New Orleans Times-Picayune at a rally last week at the Rock 'N' Bowl.The paper said 84 of the newsroom’s 173 employees were cut at the 175-year-old paper. Advertising, circulation and other departments also were affected.
The change means New Orleans will become the largest metro area in the nation without a daily newspaper in the digital age.
In Alabama, three major daily newspapers laid off about 400 employees. It wasn’t immediately clear what departments were hit hardest at The Birmingham News, the Press-Register in Mobile and The Huntsville Times.
All four papers will continue to publish on their websites, and online access will remain free.
The newspapers’ parent company, Advance Publications, is shifting its focus in the digital age. Papers have struggled in recent years as print advertising declined during the recession, and newspapers have yet to learn how to make online advertising as profitable as its printed counterpart.
Advance Publications also owns The Express-Times, whose publisher Tuesday said there are no plans for staff reductions or print production changes in the Lehigh Valley.
“Every Advance property operates independently based on circumstances in the marketplace,” Express-Times Publisher Martin Till said. “We’ve had no discussions like that, we continue to grow market share and we continue to build audience.
“Those markets (in Louisiana and Alabama) are very different than other Advance markets in the East.”Advance Publications also owns The Star-Ledger in Newark, the Patriot-News in Harrisburg and the Plain Dealer in Cleveland — all in competitive media markets.
In New Orleans, the announcement has been greeted with dismay. A rally in support of keeping The Times-Picayune a daily drew hundreds of people outside a popular restaurant last week.