Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc. in Tinton Falls, N.J., a writing, editing, and management consulting firm. She is a former deputy executive editor of The Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J., and former managing editor of the Record of Bergen County, Hackensack, N.J.

Layoffs, possible closures and reduced home delivery as the industry scrambles for an online business model that works

CREATIVITY AND FOCUS ARE WORKING at some newspapers, but not at others due to a drastic economic decline. The saddest news to date is the sale or possible closure of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Despite a valiant attempt to downsize the paper from five to three sections on weekdays, keep high standards and be honest with its readership, the newspaper has been put up for sale because of an "unacceptable level" of losses, said Steven Swartz, president of Hearst Newspapers. The P-I lost $14 million last year.

If a new buyer cannot be found within 60 days, the newspaper may go online only with a reduced staff or be shut down entirely. Still, the newsroom is fighting to stay alive, and its leadership remains committed to its readership and staff.

"The P-I has a long, distinguished past and an outstanding present. I hope it has a future," said David McCumber, managing editor. "I will do all I can in the next few weeks to help entice a buyer, and right now my energies are focused there. If one doesn't step forward, we must be prepared for either a total shutdown or a much-reduced online iteration. We have 150 top-notch journalists here looking at a job market that is precarious at best. We'll see what develops, but there's not a clear path to continued employment for many people here if no buyer is found."

Just days before the announcement, associate publisher Ken Bunting told The American Editor that the paper was focused on readers and being honest about the downsizing.

"Some newspapers and other businesses utilize clever marketing to try to convince people that less is more. We pointedly avoided that," Bunting said.

Bunting was having shoulder surgery on the day of the announcement and found out about the decision while in the hospital. "Needless to say, the news evokes strong emotions and a range of them. I'm still in a state of shock," Bunting said. "In the uncertain times ahead, I find myself concerned more about staff and readers than myself. Maybe these aren't the most important concerns, but high on my list of regrets is that I wasn't in the building to share the pain of this passage with colleagues, and that a TV station broke the damn story."

Stay tuned. The paper has until March 9 to find a buyer.

In another venture being watched by the entire industry, Detroit Media Partnership is tackling the economic downturn head-on.

Home delivery of MediaNews Group-owned Detroit News and Gannett-owned Detroit Free Press has been cut to three days a week -Thursday, Friday and Sunday - although daily newspapers will be available on newsstands. The papers will also print smaller daily editions, roughly 32 pages, and lead readers to their respective online sites at freep.com and detnews.com.

And for those folks who want to have an ink version in their hands, the electronic sites will be exact replicas of the newsstand versions and can be printed from home computers.

Newsroom jobs will be saved and fuel and labor expenses will be reduced, but the partnership says it still expects to cut 9 percent of its work force of 2,151 employees.

"The staff was initially shocked by the radical nature of the plan, but has warmed to it, primarily because it preserves two independent newsrooms in Detroit. News staffers see it as a challenge and are digging in to make it work," said Jonathan Wolman, editor and publisher of the Detroit News. "There's a real sense that doing something to explore a new business model is far better than doing nothing, and we've embraced the idea that what we are planning here, if we can make it work, will break the devastating cycle of cutting newsroom resources to match declines in circulation and advertising."

Wolman said Detroit businesses have been undergoing dramatic restructuring for years, so readers understand.

"The point of this initiative is to preserve two independent editorial voices in one of the busiest and most compelling news towns in America," he said.

He promises the two papers, with a 135-year tradition of competition, will remain so.

"When the air clears, the News will provide innovative coverage for print, for the Web, and for mobile gadgets - and whatever develops in the years to come," he said.

In an interview on PBS' "Nightly Business Report," Dave Hunke, publisher of the Detroit Free Press and CEO of Detroit Media Partnership, acknowledged that the decision was a huge risk but was a "realistic assessment" and should have been made years ago.

Nearly 30 daily newspapers have reduced home delivery days in the past year because of slumping revenue, according to Peter M. Zollman, founding principal for Advanced Interactive Media Group, which has been tracking the data.

Despite the economic downturn, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has fared much better.

The paper recently won Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism's prestigious John B.Oakes Award for outstanding environmental reporting and also won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and the Associated Press Managing Editors 2008 Innovator of the Year award. It is a beacon that has inspired many in these difficult economic times.

"Newsrooms need to focus on doing the best work they can do. It sure helps reduce the gloom and doom that too much of the industry is focused on," said Marty Kaiser, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editor and ASNE vice president.

Other recent movements and developments in our industry ...

Associated Press Vice President John Lumpkin, in charge of U.S. and Latin American newspaper markets, has resigned and taken a job heading the Texas Christian University's Schieffer School of Journalism. He will begin his new role June 1 and is no stranger to the campus. Lumpkin's wife, Eileen, is a TCU journalism graduate and former reporter for the school's award-winning newspaper, The Daily Skiff. Their older son, John, is a former editor of the Skiff and a Pentagon reporter for AP who now teaches at Metro State University in Denver.

Timothy Franklin has stepped down as editor of the Baltimore Sun and is being replaced by Montgomery Cook, director of content development for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. Franklin, who led the newspaper since 2004, has accepted a position at Indiana University.

Deborah Howell, who has left her job as The Washington Post ombudsman, has returned to Newhouse Newspapers as a consultant and is planning to work on special projects.

Replacing her at The Washington Post is Andy Alexander, former Cox Newspapers' Washington bureau chief, whose job was eliminated when Cox announced it was closing its D.C. office. Alexander says he expects to expand the role to have more of a Web presence.

Jim Brady, head of Washingtonpost.com has resigned.

And, as always, we sadly say farewell to our friends. Alvah Chapman, former Knight Ridder CEO, died at 87. John M. Lee, who was an ASNE member from 1987 to 2004, died at 78. Lee retired as director of editorial development for New York Times Regional Newspapers in late 2000. He had been active in ASNE committees and was chair of the ASNE Press/Bar Committee 1992-93. *