The Triangle’s own “Old Reliable” is feeling the sting of a changing economy. Come June 27th, 70 jobs — 16 of which were newsroom positions — at the News & Observer will be terminated to lessen the newspaper’s production costs.

Among other changes, the paper will move its production schedules up “significantly earlier” and will merge some departments and staff with the Charlotte Observer , according to an e-mail Executive Editor John Drescher sent to the newsroom staff.

“This is a traumatic day,” Drescher said in the e-mail. “We are losing some good colleagues and it is painful to do so.”

These cuts are part of a growing trend among newspapers, including those that produce weekly and daily editions. The McClatchy Company, which owns the News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer , among others, announced via a press release plans to “reduce its workforce by about 10% as the company accelerates efforts to manage through today’s difficult advertising market and position itself for future success in an increasingly competitive environment.”

The effects have even stemmed to university newspapers; as reported earlier, Technician has also made cuts to its staff and payroll.

But according to Sylvia Adcock, who has been a journalist since she was a student at N.C. State in the 80s, there is hope for those both preparing to enter the field and stay there.

Job cuts pose a “concern, but I also think there’s always going to be a need for people who can tell stories in the news and edit those stories in the news,” Adcock, who teaches journalism, said. “They shouldn’t discourage someone from going into the business if they’re committed and good at it.”

The job market for journalists has always been competitive, she said, because reporting is “rewarding in a way that a lot of professions aren’t. You never know what you’re going to be hit with — every day’s different.”

However, job descriptions within the newspaper industry won’t stay the same for long. Already, some job postings require reporters to have a handle on design programs, copy editing and photography.  

“The recent cuts at the N&O are a signal to all of us that it’s a different climate out there,” Adcock said.

This climate also requires the use of platforms, other than newspapers’ print editions, to disseminate information to readers.

In efforts to stay afloat in an increasingly Internet-driven world, publication companies have started to enhance Web editions and features such as immediate updates, videos, podcasts and blogs.

Soon, Adcock said, they’ll be looking toward more than just the Internet. There may be other technologies and methods in which newspapers invest that “we haven’t even thought of before as a platform.”

Other changes to the News & Observer starting June 30

The paper will reduce its print editions to two: a state-wide edition and final (Wake County area) edition.

Because late-breaking news and sports scores will not make it into the next day’s paper due to earlier production deadlines, readers will be redirected to newsobserver.com for the full articles.

Employees will have to “shift their workdays ahead by an hour or two.”

The City & State and Business sections will merge Tuesday through Saturday.

When two become one

The Sports department will merge with the Charlotte Observer ‘s sports department.

Each paper’s news research department will “merge to serve both newsrooms.”

The features departments at both papers will “work to develop several jointly produced sections that work equally well for both papers.”

Source: E-mail from John Drescher; e-mail from John Drescher and Rick Thames, editor of the Charlotte Observer