Job cuts hit the newsroom at the OC Register

The Orange County Register’s belt tightening hit the daily paper’s newsrooms last week with the layoff of a general assignment reporter. The cut was announced in an internal memo sent to employees by Editor Tonnie Katz, who didn’t rule out the prospect of further layoffs. “The obvious question is: Will there be more layoffs in the newsroom?” Katz wrote in the memo. “The truthful answer is that I don’t know. At this time there are no plans for more.” The layoff follows other cost-cutting steps taken by the Register, Katz said, such as the elimination of the paper’s Connect technology section and the cutting of jobs through attrition. She said higher newsprint prices led to the cuts. “We will also soon make other minor space cutbacks as part of an overall look at newsprint savings,” Katz wrote. The news sent jitters through the Santa Ana-based paper’s newsroom, which until now had managed to retain its head count over the past year as staff members watched some 100 other positions cut in operations, sales and marketing. The Register’s layoff also comes on the heels of larger cuts at its rival the Los Angeles Times. The Times laid off some 170 employees a few months ago under its Times Community News division as it also looks to cut costs. n