McClatchy to centralize design jobs in North Carolina
Charlotte will become the hub of all 30 of McClatchy's newspaper design and copy editing departments. McClatchy is transitioning from a print-based news owner to a digital publisher, and this is one of the steps the company is taking to make the transformation happen. McClatchy wants to focus more on digital because of the decline of advertising revenue.
The consolidation will affect McClatchy employees all over the country, including 30 people from the West as people based in Sacramento, will now be based in Charlotte.
With the consolidation of the news desks, it will save McClatchy money in the production of its print papers, said Gary Wortel, McClatchy's West regional publisher.
McClatchy has struggled to pay off the debt it acquired in 2006 when it bought Knight Ridder, a large newspaper company, and has let staff go in order to save expenses. The value of McClatchy's stock has decreased by about 90 percent since 2014 as print papers are becoming less popular.