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July 19, 2008

Press Herald announces more cuts

The Portland Press Herald announced Friday that another round of layoffs -- the third this year -- is necessary to meet falling advertising revenue.

The news comes only a few months after Blethen Maine Newspapers, the owner of the Press Herald, in May cut 36 positions at Portland's only daily newspaper, including 12 in the newsroom, and closed bureaus in Washington, D.C., Augusta, Biddeford and Bath. Those cuts now seem to have been insufficient, according to new projections that peg ad revenue $1.2 million below what the company forecasted in May, according to the Press Herald. "The economy has continued to worsen, and our business results are reflecting that," Publisher Charles Cochrane said in a companywide memo, according to the paper.

Specifics about the new round of cuts will be announced Aug. 18, according to the paper. Jeannine Guttman, the Press Herald's editor, estimates that 10% of the newsroom's roughly 85 full-time equivalent positions will have to be cut, the paper said.

The Seattle Times Co., which owns Blethen Maine Newspapers, is currently looking for a buyer for its Maine holdings.

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