Times Record employees see cuts to retirement fund
by February 12, 2009 12:27 pm 71 views
Employees of Stephens Media, the Las Vegas-based company that owns the Times Record in Fort Smith, have been informed that their 401(k) retirement contributions will not be matched by the company.
“Effective with the payroll beginning January 31, 2009, matching contributions to the Stephens Media Retirement Savings Plan (401k Plan), will be temporarily suspended for the remainder of the year,” according to a memo from the company.
Other regional newspapers owned by Stephens Media includes the Press-Argus Courier in Van Buren, The Greenwood Democrat, The Charleston Express, The Paris Express and the Booneville Democrat. Stephens Media also owns The Morning News in Springdale and the Pine Bluff Commercial.
Stephens Media CEO Sherman Frederick said the move to cut contributions results from the recession that has “significantly affected” the company. He noted in a statement that “Some of the hardest blows of this recession have been thrown at Las Vegas, our largest market.”
The company also implemented a wage freeze for all publishers and managers.
The Times Record cut between 25-30 jobs/positions in the last six months of 2008. Stephens Media also cut one job at its bureau in Little Rock, and the four-person staff in its Washington, D.C. bureau was cut to a one-person staff.
The U.S. newspaper industry employed 445,700 in 1990, more than 22% than in 2008. A little more than 48 percent of the 102,000 jobs cut in the sector since 1990 were cuts made in the past three years.