Media Roundup: Star Tribune agrees to cuts, Twitter continues breakneck growth and More

Star Tribune agrees to cuts — The union representing the newsroom of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and management have agreed, in principle, to several cuts. The two sides met this morning and settled on $1.7 million in compensation cuts which include furloughs, reduced severance and pension freezes. Management had initially moved to end seniority and will instead get to protect a handful of employees from seniority-based layoffs. Remaining workers will receive a three percent pay cut and a wage freeze until 2011. [Source: MinnPost]

Twitter continues breakneck growth — The micoblogging site Twitter increased worldwide visitors by 95 percent in the month of March, according to ComScore. The numbers do not reflect users that interact with the service via third party sites and desktop applications, which would of pushed the number much higher. Twitter has seem a boon in traffic since Oprah dedicated an entire show to the service and Ashton Kutcher and CNN raced to be the first to one million followers. Twitter has insisted it will focus on growth and adding features before it attempts to bring in revenue. [Source: TechCrunch]

The New York Times is looking at paid content – At its shareholder’s meeting yesterday, Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. told attendees he was considering new financial strategies which include charging for online content. The New York Times also plans to apply the paid model to its other newspapers. The company has been hinting it would return to the paid online model for several months. Two years ago the company ended its “Times Select” program that charged for select content and columnists. Sulzberger reaffirmed shareholders that he will take a “hard look” at the company’s revenue possibilities. The company reported a 27 percent dip in advertising at the meeting. [Source: Editor & Publisher]

Tribune announces cuts — The Chicago Tribune has cut another 53 employees from its newsroom. The cuts are part of the company’s ongoing struggling in the wake of its Chapter 11 filing late last year. The number of employees laid off were less than anticipated, with some local media outlets predicting cuts around 90 employees. Editor Gerould Kern has suggested that the newsroom will likely stabilize around 430 employees, 50 less than the paper had last summer. He also suggested that some employees that took buyouts would be replaced with more digitally focused hires. [Source: Editor & Publisher]

NPR cuts 13 — National Public Radio has announced it will lay off 13 employees and require remaining employees to take five days of furloughs over the next five months. Additionally, employees will no longer be paid for three upcoming holidays. In December, the company cut 67 employees and canceled two of its programs. The cuts are part of an effort to close a $8 million budget cap for its current fiscal year. [Source: Washington Post]