The Blade is laying off 23 workers due to declining ad revenue and the newspaper’s ties to the auto industry.

Assistant Managing Editor LuAnn Sharp said Dec. 11 that most of the layoffs will be in the newsroom. Five of the employees work part time. After the layoffs, The Blade will employ 425 companywide.

Sharp says layoff decisions were made during a meeting with the Toledo Newspaper Guild. A message seeking comment was left for union president Lillian Covarrubias.

The Blade in May 2007 ended a nine-month lockout of about a third of its union workers during contract negotiations. Dozens of employees were cut through buyouts and layoffs.

The Blade is owned by Block Communications Inc.

More media layoffs

FOX Toledo reported the layoff of five station personnel Dec. 11, including one on-air personality and four “behind the scenes” employees.

Steve France, news director, confirmed the layoffs but declined to provide names, pending permission from his superior. France attributed the layoffs to hard economic times and “corporate restructuring.”

“They’re all hard-working people,” he said. “We wish we didn’t have to let them go, but we had no choice.”

Recent layoffs have also been reported at WTOL-TV, WNWO-TV and Cumulus Radio.

— Scott McKimmy

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 8:59 am and is filed under Community, Media.
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