(Warren) Buffett company to close Va. newspaper, cut 105 jobs (traces its history to 1869)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Steve Jordon

A 10,000-circulation Virginia newspaper owned by Warren Buffett's investment company will close at the end of the year as part of plan involving 105 job cuts in the 2,000-employee eastern U.S. newspaper operation.

The company said no other job cuts are planned.

The Manassas (Va.) News & Messenger, which traces its history to 1869, will publish its last edition on Dec. 30, according to World Media Enterprises Inc., a division of Buffett's Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

World Media said Wednesday it would eliminate the newspaper's 33 jobs and cut the jobs of 72 other people, mostly corporate staff positions it inherited at various locations in the Southeast when Berkshire purchased 63 newspapers from Media General Group of Richmond, Va., last June.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20121114/MONEY/711149909/1685#buffett-company-to-close-va-newspaper-cut-105-jobs

[diabeticman]

1. Damn...Why Buffett Why? We need jobs not them cut.

[naaman fletcher]

2. Because Buffet is a con man

Some time ago he figured that if he talked like a progressive, he would be able to get away with stuff that gets the billionaires in hot water.

[banned from Kos]

3. Nonsense. Buffett doesn't try to talk like a progressive.

He is a garden variety liberal (like me). Most capitalists are SANE and don't fall for the GOP bullshit.

If you equate progressives with socialists then he is not one for sure. I expect you do just that.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

4. He's not a liberal

He's anti Union and has been for a while, and he's against the minimum wage. If this is what "progressive" means these days then I must be a communist.

[naaman fletcher]

7. huh?

I have no idea what you just said. I think you have very particular definitions of "liberal", "progressive",and "socialist" and I don't see how we could possible have a conversation without agreeing on them.

[PoliticAverse]

5. I think you've nailed Buffett's act. n/t

[Kablooie]

6. It's a NEWSPAPER.

Newspapers are hard to keep solvent today with all the Internet competition.
I don't know the details but my guess is that it was simply failing and you can't keep paying employees with a failing company no matter what the economy is doing.