S-R to cut 11 newsroom positions, 5 others

The Spokesman-Review is downsizing its newsroom by 11 people through a voluntary enhanced-severance program.

Another five positions have been eliminated through enhanced separation in the newspaper’s circulation, accounting and prepress departments.

The goal of the programs is to “try to get our expenses in line with our revenues,” said Stacey Cowles, publisher of The Spokesman-Review.

“Advertising is one of the first expenses to get cut and one of the last to be restored in any recession,” he said. “We’re still adjusting to the fallout of the recession.”

Currently, The Spokesman-Review has 568 full- and part-time employees.

Most of the workers who are taking part in the voluntary-separation program will have left the company by mid-July, said Connie Bantz, human resources manager.

In the newsroom, the positions being vacated include editors, reporters and administrative staff, said Spokesman-Review Editor Steven A. Smith.

Some of the positions will be filled through internal transfers, while others will remain unfilled, Smith said.

“We are losing some extraordinary talent,” he said. “These people will be sorely missed, but in each case, I’m confident their replacements will acquit themselves quite well and we’re not going to miss a beat.”

The enhanced-severance program provided employees with 2 1/2 weeks pay for every year worked, plus a $4,000 lump sum for health-insurance expenses.

Since 2000, The Spokesman-Review has had five rounds of early retirement and enhanced severance offers and involuntary layoffs, Bantz said.