Layoffs that will total 165 people began Monday at The Tampa Tribune and its community and weekly publications — a reduction of 16 percent in the total workforce.
The cuts also affect TBO.com but not News Channel 8, the Tribune's TV partner at the News Center.
Most of the employees affected were notified Monday. Among the best-known staffers let go was television critic Walt Belcher, who compiled a column that appeared on the Tribune's page 2. He wrote on his personal Facebook page, "My 35 years at the Tribune was a great ride."
John Schauss, vice president of market operations at Tribune owner Media General Inc., said, "Going forward, we will still have more than 300 content generators across multiple media platforms in the Tampa market.
"Every one of our platforms has content producers who benefit Tampa Tribune readers. We will maintain and over time enhance the quality of our newspaper."
The changes are designed to improve the Tribune's finances and focus more on reaching news readers with more innovative digital and mobile methods, Schauss said. The Tribune is not going away as a print news product, he said, but the newspaper's future will be more defined by digital projects than in the past.
The layoffs follow a leadership change last month at Media General's Florida operations, including the departure of several top executives and more direct links to company headquarters in Richmond, Va.
Laid-off workers will receive severance, though details were not released. After the job cuts, about 675 people will continue to work at the company's print and online operations in Tampa.
Though some photojournalists who were let go Monday worked with both the Tribune and News Channel 8, there were no layoffs in TV operations, and job cuts Monday did not affect on-air reporters and anchors.
That's primarily because News Channel 8 is in a more sound financial position, Schauss said. 2012 will bring several major events, such as the Republican National Convention and the Olympics, that are likely to produce revenue for NBC and affiliates including News Channel 8.
About 80 percent of the planned job cuts occurred Monday. The rest were delayed until the first quarter of 2012 because of contract or other business considerations.
Media General imposed employee furloughs this year and previously to save money, but no furloughs are planned for 2012.
Once an interim phase is complete, Schauss said, the broader organization "will fight back" against competition including the St. Petersburg Times, which is changing its name to the Tampa Bay Times to reflect hopes of expanding across the Bay area.
That fight will include more of the remaining reporters deployed more directly in the communities they cover, whether in bureaus or on their own as mobile journalists.
More reporting and production focus will shift to the core area of Tampa, and on developing more digital news products for mobile and social media.
Overall, the Tribune's finances have been reworked, Schauss said, to match the advertising and sales environment of the Bay area and using financial models that don't envision any economic recovery.
That way, he said, any recovery that does happen would only benefit the organization.
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