The Times has cut more than 150 jobs following the recent 49-day strike, including the local business news desk and a dozen copy editors. Boycotts of advertising cost the paper business too, Sizemore said. A staff member there said The Times lost so much money during the strike, that's its top priority is to return to financial stability. Sizemore said they lost several million dollars. The Oregonian has also seen a decline in its ad revenue, which representatives estimated at 20 percent.
Sources there say the decrease has resulted in a hiring freeze.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, meanwhile, has a hiring freeze in effect and is cutting expenses. The parent companies of The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are experiencing similar drops in advertising and planning cutbacks. The two papers operate competing newsrooms, but The Times handles the business and production operations as part of its joint operating agreement. The situation appears to be worse at the Seattle Times. As remote as this is, it is a possible consequence if we don't quickly get the company downsized and stabilized.