In Missoula, Layoffs and Other Changes at the Daily Newspaper

By Robert Struckman, 8-27-08

A husband-wife pair received the first newsroom layoff notices from the Missoulian in more than five years, as Missoula’s daily newspaper and other Lee Enterprises newspapers around the state slashed costs in the face of high paper prices, slow advertising sales and increased competition (especially from free Internet-based classified ad vehicles, like craigslist, as well as news and aggregation sites).

John Cramer, the environmental reporter, and Pamela J. Podger, who covered business, came to the Missoulian about a year ago. The two have young boys, twins, and recently bought a house in town.

All total, seven employees were laid off, including some in the advertising and circulation departments.

Publisher Stacey Mueller is quoted in the a story posted on the Missoulian‘s Web site today saying, “With a tough economic environment resulting in skyrocketing newsprint and fuel costs, along with softening in certain classified segments, the Missoulian has been faced with very tough financial decisions, not dissimilar to many other businesses in our community and our industry.”

News of the layoffs in other departments at the newspaper came late Tuesday. There’s no word yet on layoffs at other Lee papers across the state.

Podger and Cramer got the tough news this morning. Their desks were immediately vacated. Others in the newspaper reeled.

As far as job cuts go, it could be described as mild. One lumber mill in Missoula closed down less than a year ago, laying off more than 100 workers. Yet it’s probably never decent to use the term “mild” for even one layoff.

For more than a year, it seemed as if the shakeout across the newspaper industry would bypass Montana’s Lee newspapers, even as the company has staggered under its $1.3 billion debt load from its purchase of the Pulitzer chain of newspapers more than three years ago.

For the most part, you would have only noticed the effects of the rising costs of paper, for instance, by carefully tracking the page width of the Missoulian. It’s been shrinking steadily over the past several years as paper costs have skyrocketed. It’s a common cost-saving practice across the industry.

Other, less dramatic changes have also hit the paper. For instance, the weekly Entertainer will no longer be distributed free in wire racks around the region.

In a Lee press release issued about a month ago, CEO Mary Junck said the company would focus on “rigorous cost reductions through staff reorganizations, narrow page widths, newsprint conservation programs and other efficiencies.” The company’s stock price has taken a massive drubbing over the past several years, even though the company has remained profitable. Its price has been below $3.50 a share in the past week, down from about $18 a share a share a year ago and more than $40 a share three years ago.

“It’s a tough year to be in the newspaper business, no matter who you are,” said Matt Gibson, publisher of the weekly Missoula Independent. “People are doing what they need to do to keep their heads above water until the economy turns around.”

This year, Gibson closed his bureau in Kalispell after the bureau chief moved on to a new job. Other publications have had tough times as well, including us at NewWest.Net. We launched a quarterly print magazine earlier this year but scaled back our plans to a twice-yearly schedule after getting squeezed by high paper prices and modest ad sales.

The tight times have resulted in other changes in the local media, which almost look like cooperation. Starting Sept. 1, the Independent will be printed on the Missoulian’s press.

“They were able to offer us a better deal,” Gibson said.

Update: This story has been updated with new information and altered to remove some information on which we are getting conflicting reports.