The US newspaper company Gannett is to fire 700 newspaper staff, some 2% of the company's total work force.
The job reductions will affect the company's community publishing division, which consists of about 80 daily papers.
The move, broken to employees in a memo from Bob Dickey, president of the newspaper division, is viewed by a US-based media commentator as a leading indicator of a permanently shrinking newspaper business.
Dickey cited "soft" national advertising alongside a reduction in ad budgets by local advertisers as a result of the slower-than-expected pace of economic recovery.
Gannett, parent company to the British chain, Newsquest, saw its first-quarter ad revenue decline by more than 7% compared to a year earlier.
In recent years the company, which also owns TV stations, has had several rounds of layoffs and other cuts, while coping with falling revenue. It finished last year with about 32,600 employees, down from 49,675 employees at the end of 2006.
In his response to the cuts, Poynter Institute's commentator, Rick Edmonds, wrote of Gannet remaining "saddled with Newsquest", which Gannett acquired in 1999 for more than £1bn billion, "thinking it had a Midas touch that was exportable."
He added: "The British papers have suffered from the same kind of internet competition and shifting marketing priorities that have dragged down the American industry.
"Newsquest is having a difficult 2011, with year-to-year revenue declines of more than 12%."
The publisher is also facing a series of strikes by newspaper journalists. Editorial staff at its south London titles are to stage a four-day strike next week in a continuing dispute over redundancies. It follows a two-day strike last week.
Job cuts in Darlington have also led to strikes and protests.
Sources: Wall Street Journal/Poynter (1) (2) /NUJ (1) (2)
