MediaNews Plans To Cut 81 Jobs At Reading Eagle

READING, Pa. (AP) — The new owners of the Reading (Pa.) Eagle plan to lay off more than a third of the staff after they assume control of the 150-year-old newspaper and the company’s other assets later this month.

MediaNews Group stepped forward to buy the Reading Eagle Co. for $5 million after the family-owned company filed for bankruptcy protection in March.

A filing with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry says that MediaNews intends to lay off 81 of the Reading Eagle’s 221 employees. The Reading Eagle’s other properties include news-talk WEEU-AM and a weekly newspaper.

MediaNews says it’s “still considering other Reading Eagle employees for possible employment.” It promised to have a final list of cuts by June 28.

MediaNews has a history of buying struggling newspapers and slashing their staffs.