Layoffs at newspaper chain hit Raleigh-based McClatchy Interactive
McClatchy Interactive, the online services division of the McClatchy Newspaper (NYSE: MNI) chain, laid off more than 10 percent of its staff on Wednesday.
A McClatchy Interactive executive reached by phone declined comment, referring WRAL.com to Chris Hendricks, the McClatchy executive who runs the division. Hendricks could not be reached.
However, Hendricks told The News & Observer in Raleigh that 16 people were let go, the paper said. The N&O is part of the McClatchy chain and is where the online group had its origin more than a decade as Nando.net.
The reductions came even as McClatchy management has committed itself to an aggressive Web strategy across the chain. Hendricks told the N&O the cuts were made for competitive reasons. The sale of a business unit recently led to the departure of some 30 other interactive employees, the N&O reported.
Hendricks, who is based at McClatchy headquarters in Sacramento, Calif., was in Raleigh on Wednesday, the McClatchy executive said. Most of the McClatchy Interactive group is based in the Triangle.
As part of the cutbacks, the interactive group shut down one 10-person group that packaged content for other newspapers, Hendricks told the newspapers.
A Web blog that covers McClatchy Newspapers, "Cancel the Bee,” first reported that the interactive group was making cuts. The site is named after McClatchy's flagship Sacramento Bee and includes coverage of layoffs across the chain. It offered no details about the Interactive group’s reductions.
People being laid off were offered a severance package, one worker who was let go, told WRAL.com. The employee asked not to be identified.
Hendricks visited the Triangle two weeks ago and warned the online group that layoffs were likely, the source said.
When asked by WRAL.com about layoffs as part of a chain-wide headcount reduction earlier this year, Hendricks declined comment through a spokesperson.
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