No news is .........no news. More newpaper layoffs in Ohio

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The Akron Beacon Journal today said it's laying off 41 people in its 161-person newsroom.

Twenty-nine of those positions are full-time. Employees were given 60 days' notice and will receive severance pay amounting to one week's pay for every six months of service.

The Akron paper plans to announce more layoffs throughout the rest of the building, in departments such as accounting and circulation, in the next few weeks. The Beacon employs about 710 people.

With the breakup of the Knight-Ridder newspaper group, the Beacon Journal was sold earlier this year to Black Press Ltd.

One after another, U.S. newspapers have been cutting staff as print circulation and advertising revenues decline. The Plain Dealer announced earlier this month its own program, which involves voluntary buyouts rather than forced cuts. The Plain Dealer has not said how many jobs it expects to lose with the buyouts, which top out with an offer, to employees 50 or older with at least 20 years of seniority, that includes 2-1/2 years' pay and health-care benefits.

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/business/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_business/archives/2006_08.html#174801