Another Nail in the Coffin

The WaPo's Sara Kehaulani Goo writes that the WaPo plans to eliminate "80 newsroom positions over the next year by offering an early retirement plan to eligible employees and through attrition of full- and part-time workers."

She writes that:

Like many newspapers suffering from declining circulation, The Post's revenue has remained flat for several years. The number of paid subscribers has declined 4 percent a year.

The Post is trying to extend its reach by adding features to its Web site, such as blogs and podcasts, and with the launch of a Washington Post radio venture later this month.

In meetings yesterday with staff members for each section, Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. said The Post is doing better, financially, than many of its competitors. "But it is obvious that a significant change is taking place in our readership, with a sizable portion of it migrating to the Internet," he said.

As the WaPo has been already slashing visual arts coverage over the last few years, I think we all know where those those readers have been going. Let's hope that they don't cut the visual arts coverage anymore - if that's even possible.