USA Today shaking up staff in 'radical' overhaul [View All]

Source: Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — USA Today, the nation's second largest newspaper, is making the most dramatic overhaul of its staff in its 28-year history in an effort deliver stories more quickly to mobile devices and produce more coverage likely to sell advertising.

The makeover outlined Thursday will result in about 130 layoffs this fall, USA Today Publisher Dave Hunke told The Associated Press. That translates into a 9 percent reduction in USA Today's work force of 1,500 employees. Hunke didn't specify which departments would be hardest hit.

Like most newspapers, Gannett Co.'s USA Today has been cutting back in recent years to offset a steep drop in advertising that is depleting its main source of income. To compound the problem, fewer readers are paying for newspapers as free news proliferates on the Web.

Those challenges triggered the most dramatic reorganization since USA Today first hit the streets in 1982 with a then-unique blend of shorter stories surrounded by colorful graphics and pictures.

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