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King County Journal announces cuts, selling of office

By J. Martin McOmber
Seattle Times business reporter

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In the latest bid to revive his struggling suburban newspaper chain, King County Journal publisher Peter Horvitz said yesterday that the company will lay off up to 6 percent of its staff and sell its Bellevue headquarters.

About two dozen employees will be laid off across various departments, including the newsroom, Horvitz said. The company will also move its corporate office to Kent, where it recently built a $21 million printing plant.

In a letter to employees, Horvitz said the changes are needed to return the newspaper company to profitability.

"While I'm saddened by the need to eliminate jobs, it is essential for us to stop losing money and to save the vast majority of jobs at our company," Horvitz wrote.

The paper will rent office space in Bellevue as a base for reporters, advertising representatives and other employees whose jobs require them to be based on the Eastside, Horvitz said.

"This does not signal in any way that we are not committed to the Eastside," Horvitz said. "We are as committed to the community as we ever have been. This is a business decision. We need to become a profitable newspaper."

Staff members learned about the changes yesterday at a meeting that left many worried and demoralized.

"I'm a little nervous, but I was also expecting it," said Chuck Garrett, a seven-year employee who works in dispatch. "Business has been pretty slow around here."

Horvitz told employees that the newsroom would take the biggest hit, said Doug Margeson, a features reporter and member of the union's executive board.

"People are pretty much resigned to it," Margeson said.
 
The restructuring will take place over the next six to nine months and is part of an effort to "lower our costs and align our expenses with current revenue projections," Horvitz said. The changes will leave the paper with 341 employees.

In August, the company cut 19 jobs, suspended pay raises and stopped matching contributions to employees' 401(k)s. It stopped publishing separate editions for Eastside and South King County readers in October.

The region's downturn has been tough on newspapers, including The Seattle Times, as they have struggled to recover from drops in income from advertising.

In addition to the daily King County Journal, which has a weekday circulation of about 47,000, the company publishes weekly papers for Mercer Island and the Snoqualmie Valley and biweekly papers in Auburn, Bothell, Kent, Redmond and Renton.

Seattle Times staff reporters Jake Batsell, Nick Perry and Natalie Singer contributed to this report.

J. Martin McOmber: 206-464-2022 or mmcomber@seattletimes.com

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