Virginia-Pilot to downsize

NORFOLK, Va., Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Norfolk, Va., daily newspaper the Virginia-Pilot said it was cutting its workforce by 10 percent following a decline in advertising revenues.

In an effort to reduce costs, the newspaper's publisher, Maurice Jones, said it wouldshut down its free online newspaper, Link, which aims at 18 to 34-year-olds, jettison the paper's business section, except for Sundays, and reduce the size of its flagship newspaper by 8 percent, dropping around 40 pages a week, the newspaper reported.

In an effort to keep "as many reporters on the street as possible," the editorial staff at the newspaper will drop 15 workers, mostly editors and managers, editor Denis Finley said.

"We're making these changes to keep this a healthy contributor to the marketplace in tough times," Jones said.

Link, he said, was on track to make a profit in 2010, but the company "cannot afford to withstand those losses in the next couple of years in this climate."