With Gannett stock plunging briefly below $12 per share Friday, and
a Goldman Sachs analyst predicting continued “record declines” in ad spending over the next year, the Honolulu Advertiser has announced another round of buyouts coupled with wage and benefit cutbacks, as well as structural changes that could result in further layoffs of union members.

According to the Hawaii Newspaper Guild:

The company proposed that bargaining unit employees accept dozens of changes in the editorial, production and circulation departments that could result in layoffs of additional union and non-union employees. The proposals include the expanded use of part-time workers, outsourcing of some current bargaining unit work, and a 40-hour work week.

Company spokesperson John Jaske said the company next week will announce details of a new round of voluntary layoffs. Some employees will be offered up to 52 weeks of pay and up to a year of health coverage if they voluntarily leave the company, he said.

In typical times, Gannett’s chain of local newspapers is considered more immune from the national economy. But according to AP, Mark Wienkes of Goldman Sachs is predicting “local ad spending will see a steeper drop than national ads and advises investors to stay away for now from ad-related stocks.”

Meanwhile, S&P offers some perspective on Black Press, which owns MidWeek and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. According to S&P, results in Hawaii have been “poor” and a “significant annual cash investment” is needed to keep the Hawaii newspapers afloat. When David Black bought the Star-Bulletin, it was thought MidWeek’s revenues would be sufficient to fund the daily newspaper. Not so, according to S&P.

According to an abstract of the company’s credit report:

The ratings on Victoria, B.C.-based newspaper publisher Black Press Ltd. reflect its high debt leverage, weak performance in the U.S., acquisitive nature, lack of revenue diversification outside of the newspaper industry, and significant annual cash investment required to support the company’s Hawaiian newspaper operation. Partially offsetting these factors are Black Press’ solid market position within several of its regions, good performance in Canada, and management’s successful track record of integrating acquired assets. Although Black Press participates in the challenging newspaper industry, the company is somewhat insulated against economic factors as a sizable portion of its revenue base comes from the community newspaper segment. This segment is less reliant on customer subscriptions and national advertising revenues…

According to S&P:

Western Canada is the company’s core geographic market, generating more than than half of annualized revenues, with Ohio, Washington State, and Hawaii making up the balance.

Meanwhile, there’s a new online publication in town, The Hawaii Independent. The masthead lists Hawaiian activist and advocate Ikaika Hussey as publisher, PBN’s Chad Blair as Senior Editor (is he giving up his day job?), and Travis Quezon, a familiar name from Honolulu Weekly, as associate editor.

So it goes on this damp Saturday morning.