SAN FRANCISCO — USA Today is eliminating 35 jobs from its newsroom as it de-emphasizes its print edition and feeds more content to mobile devices.
The cuts outlined in an internal memo yesterday are part of a sweeping overhaul announced by USA Today publisher Dave Hunke in August.
About 130 of the 1,500 jobs throughout all of USA Today’s departments are expected to be jettisoned by the time the cutting is done.
Most of the jobs being trimmed in the newsroom are currently vacant, according to the memo obtained by the Associated Press. USA Today spokesman Ed Cassidy declined to say how many people currently work in the newsroom. USA Today editor John Hillkirk didn’t return calls.
Hunke has described the changes as the most dramatic in the 28-year history of the nation’s second-largest newspaper by circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal.
With the print edition selling fewer copies and less advertising, USA Today is reshuffling its editors, reporters, and photographers so they will be in a better position to produce information more quickly and develop story packages more likely to appeal to the growing number of people who are getting their news through mobile phones and computer tablets such as Apple Inc.’s iPad.
That goal prompted USA Today to dismantle a hierarchy that designated separate managing editors to oversee the News, Sports, Money, and Life sections of its print edition. The newspaper now plans to revolve around “content rings’’ that will be run by team leaders.
The memo indicated that some of the new team leaders have been selected, but it didn’t identify them.