Dallas Morning News confirms 111 newsroom buyouts

DALLAS — The Dallas Morning News confirmed 111 newsroom employees accepted voluntary severance buyouts as part of its latest restructuring.

The buyouts represent about 23 percent of the newsroom, which now will have about 450 employees.

The newspaper began issuing offers to eligible newsroom employees Aug. 10 and those employees had until Aug. 30 to accept or decline the buyout offers.

The newspaper set a deadline of Sept. 14 to consider and confirm employee acceptances of the buyouts and a deadline of Sept. 15 as the final day of work for most of the employees who accepted the voluntary severance and had been confirmed. (Read the updated Belo press release and the publisher's memo.)

According to the newspaper, about 580 employees were offered the voluntary severance package as part of continuing efforts to cut costs and move toward increased digital publication of the newspaper.

“As the newspaper industry adapts to fundamental changes, The Dallas Morning News is shifting resources to meet evolving reader and consumer needs,” said Jim Moroney, publisher and chief executive officer of The News. “Continual change is the new constant in our business, but it is not for everyone. Therefore, we are offering a voluntary severance package to those who may prefer another work environment.”

Layoffs are possible if not enough employees take the voluntary severance program, company officials said.

The voluntary offer consists of a severance payment of two weeks of base pay per year of continuous employment up to 15 years, and three weeks of base pay for each year of service that exceeds 15 years. An additional lump-sum payment equal to 12 months of the employee’s currently applicable COBRA health care premium is included.

Bob Mong, editor of The News, noted that a strategic team is focusing on reshaping the newsroom to emphasize local content while maintaining the paper’s commitment to journalism, expert editing and sophisticated content.

The newspaper will focus on local content produced by metro, investigative, business, sports, photo, general news, art and lifestyles staffs. Detailed plans resulting from the team’s work, including a significant newsroom reorganization, are expected to be announced in November.

“We need to keep changing and adapting to the requirements of our local audience,” said Mong. “As we empower reporters and photographers to employ methods in new media and digital journalism to communicate stories, our emphasis will remain squarely on excellence in every regard.”

The voluntary severance buyout is part of a broad organizational realignment, adapting print and online products to reflect evolving, fundamental changes in the use of media by consumers and advertisers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.