Those staffed on The Daily‘s editorial and sports sections will be the worst hit, AllThingsD‘s Peter Kafka reports. “Skeletal versions” of those sections will appear in future editions. In another cost-saving measure, the publication will only format pages in vertical rather than vertical and horizontal layouts going forward.
That may have been the case in February, but News Corp.’s recently decision to divorce its lucrative cable and TV properties from its less profitable newspapers appears to have changed things. Last month, SmartMoney, which is a part of News Corp.’s Dow Jones unit, announced it was shuttering its print edition and letting go of 25 employees. Kafka says that News Corp. has also been quietly laying off some of the business executives in that unit.
UPDATE: An e-mailed statement from The Daily says that sports coverage will now be supplied by content partners, including Fox Sports. The Opinion section is being removed altogether. “Opinion pieces and editorials will appear in the news pages, clearly marked, from time to time as appropriate,” the statement reads.
Editor-in-chief Jesse Angelo wrote, “These are important changes that will allow The Daily to be more nimble editorially and to focus on the elements that our readers have told us through their consumption that they like and want… Our standards will not diminish as we move forward, nor will our enthusiasm for creating an outstanding daily digital publication.”
