Newspaper layoffs zoom; more than 70 jobs lost every day

This year American newspapers are shedding jobs one-and-a-half times faster than they did in 2008.

Paper Cuts records that so far in 2009, nearly 8900 jobs have been lost to layoffs or buyouts -- that is more than 70 jobs per day.

In 2008, a total of nearly 16000 jobs were lost. In the latter half of 2007, 2112 were lost.

The rate has been unerringly incremental, and a ceiling is not in sight.

Summing up, since June of 2007 America's newspapers have shed about 27000 jobs.

A consolation, if at all, is that some other businesses are doing decidedly worse. For example in the first quarter of 2009 America's technology sector (much bigger than newspapers to begin with) shed more than 84000 jobs.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations reported that at the end of March 2009 newspaper circulations were on average 7 per cent lower than a year ago.

Meanwhile here's what a co-founder of the Huffington Post, Kenneth Lerer, said at the Columbia Journalism School:

“The future of journalism is not dependent upon the future of newspapers.” He suggested that newspapers and magazines had failed to adapt because they were imprisoned by their own success . . .

Also see: Could Kindle 2 save the newspapers?
And: The one business Warren Buffett will not buy "at any price"