USA Today will lay off between 60 and 70 employees today, including ten percent of its newsroom staff.
Individuals with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap that the cuts will be across all of the Gannett Co. paper’s departments, with up to 35 individuals being dropped from the newsroom. The cuts arrive a month after the media company announced it would split off its publishing arm from its broadcasting and digital media units.
Also read: Gannett to Split Publishing and Broadcast Businesses Into Two Companies
“The actions taken today will allow USA Today to reinvest in the business to ensure the continued success of its digital transformation,” Gannett Co. stated, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Also read: How Larry Kramer Will More Than Double USA Today’s Circulation This Year (Exclusive)
In other Gannett news, today the company announced it had received federal regulatory clearance to acquire full ownership of Cars.com, a digital automotive company for which it will acquire the 73% interest it does not already own of Classified Ventures LLC. The company is offering $350 million of senior notes due 2021 and $325 million of senior notes due 2024 to finance the acquisition.