NOLA Media Group announced today that it is restructuring its news operation to reinforce its core journalistic mission. The changes are designed to focus on topics that are important to readers and have driven the substantial readership growth of NOLA.com, making it one of the country's top local news websites.
The restructuring will also lead to operational efficiencies and will result in an overall reduction of 28 full-time and 9 part-time content staffers – or 21 percent of the overall content operation's full-time employees, according to NOLA Media Group President Ricky Mathews. Despite the reduction, the remaining 118 full-time journalists on staff as well as more than 50 correspondents covering news, sports, entertainment, food and dining and neighborhood news across metropolitan New Orleans, make NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune by far the largest news-gathering force in the New Orleans region, Mathews said.
The content team will be comparable in size and in some cases larger than other American newsrooms in similar-sized markets, Mathews said.
"It's a difficult day for us and our colleagues who are losing their jobs," said Mathews. "We wish them the very best. Aligning our costs with the business realities faced by media organizations around the country is a tough challenge. But it's also important for our readers to know that we remain the largest and most experienced news staff, and the most widely read newspaper and website in the area."