The News Journal has halted publication of Spark, its weekly entertainment newspaper and Signature Brandywine, a lifestyle magazine.
The staff was told of the decision in a meeting on Monday. The website of both publications was taken down and the staff of about a half a dozen were dismissed. In all, 28 positions were eliminated at the company that now calls itself the News Journal Media Group. The editorial cuts were believed to have been confined to the staffers at the niche publications.
“These changes will help us better align our resources with our transformation as a media company, and strengthen our long-term strategies,” Publisher Ellen Leifeld said in a story posted on the company’s Delawareonline.com website. She said the newspaper will continue to do investigative reporting.
The most popular features of Spark and Signature will be included in the News Journal, the story stated.
Spark was part of an effort by the News Journal to reach younger readers who were not subscribing to the daily newspaper.
The publication featured content geared for 20 somethings, with a heavy dose of dining and nightlife coverage. Spark cut into the advertising base of the newspaper’s long-running 55 Hours tabloid included in the Friday edition of The News Journal. Spark appeared to be at least marginally profitable, although the number of pages had dropped in recent years.
Spark was distributed at bars, restaurants and newspaper boxes free of charge. It competed with Out and About, a long-running monthly entertainment magazine.
Signature Brandywine was a 10-time-a-year magazine aimed at the affluent northern suburbs. It competed with Delaware Today.
Parent company Gannett has cut nearly 400 jobs throughout its large chain of newspapers this summer. The Gannett Blog reported the company employed about 18,000 as of the first of the year. The News Journal escaped the first wave of cuts, but staffers had expected the axe to fall at some point.
The News Journal did announce the total number of jobs cuts, a change from the relative silence at other Gannett papers when the first wave of layoffs took place. The company, a long-time champion of freedom of information, was criticized for its lack of transparency in the first wave of cuts.
The News Journal is often viewed as a well-staffed newspaper by cost-conscious Gannett standards, with reporters devoted to areas such as traffic, food and the entertainment scene. It has been aided by the lack of direct television advertising competition, but has still seen a sharp drop in advertising revenue in the move toward the Internet and a sharp decline in categories such as real estate and help wanted advertising
News Journal Editor David Ledford referred to the move as a realignment in a brief email message and stated that the story posted by Delawareonline.com would answer questions related to the decision.
