Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

A.H. Belo Corp. of Dallas, Texas, whose holdings include The Providence Journal and Dallas Morning News, plans to reduce company-wide employment by the equivalent of 500 full-time jobs -- about 14 percent of the company's work force.

Howard G. Sutton, publisher, president and CEO of The Providence Journal, today told editors that the staff reductions here would be less than 5 percent.

If the company does not reach the target number through a voluntary severance program to be completed by mid-September, "an involuntary reduction-in-force will be necessary,'' the company said in a letter to shareholders issued today.

A.H. Belo also said it also will cut marketing and overall promotion expense, as well as travel costs and other discretionary expenses, and reduce the width of the newspapers in Providence and Riverside, Calif.

Robert W. Decherd, A.H. Belo's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a letter to employees today that these and other steps are a response to "the unprecedentedly adverse business environment facing the newspaper industry -- and the related, negative perception of the industry's future prospects.''

The company announced the steps on the same day it posted a second-quarter net loss on a 15-percent drop in revenue.

For the three months ended June 30, A.H. Belo posted a net loss of $3.19 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a net profit of $12.3 million, or 60 cents a share, for the comparable period a year earlier.

Second-quarter revenue fell 15.1 percent, to $163.25 million.

A.H. Belo is among a number of media companies nationwide that are being affected by a drop in overall advertising revenue as many readers and advertisers migrate to the Internet.

Just before mid-day today, A.H. Belo stock was trading at $6.09, down 31 cents a share.

-- Journal staff writer Neil Downing

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