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Mercury News to Lay Off 101 by ChristmasPOSTED October 21, 2006 SAN JOSE -- While Google and other Internet sites enjoy advertising gains, The San Jose Mercury News is facing steep ad declines even with a new owner. Silicon Valley's leading newspaper announced Friday that it will lay off 8.5% of its work force or 101 employees by Dec. 19 as a long-running slide in revenues continues. Of these cuts, 40 jobs in the newsroom will be affected, a 14% reduction in newsroom employees. It is the second time in a year that the newspaper has had to cut workers when it let go of 60 employees last November. `I'm sorry to have to stand before you today, again, with some bad news,'' executive editor Susan Goldberg said at an afternoon meeting of newsroom employees. ``The economics of our industry continue to slide downward.'' The San Jose Mercury News used to be the flagship of the Knight-Ridder chain but the company was sold in 2006 to McClatchy News, which immediately sold off the paper along with others to MediaNews Group. Mercury News publisher George Riggs said layoff plans could change if there is a big upturn in ad revenue this year. As of March 2006, The Mercury News had a Sunday circulation of 263,373. Other former Knight-Ridder newspapers including the Contra-Costa Times and Philadelphia News and Inquirer also warned of layoffs on the same day.
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