What does McClatchy news mean for Carolinas?

More cuts are possible at already lean-running McClatchy-owned newspapers in the Carolinas.

McClatchy Co. reported a $21.7 million loss for the fourth quarter on Thursday and said it plans deep cuts this year, The Associated Press reports.

McClatchy, which owns The State, The Charlotte Observer, The Raleigh News & Observer, The Myrtle Beach Sun News, The Rock Hill Herald, The Hilton Head Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette, wouldn’t say how much of the anticipated $100 million – $110 million in cuts would come from layoffs. It added that the plans were still being formulated.

The company, which already has imposed a company-wide wage freeze through September, said it also would freeze pension plans and suspend matches to its 401(k) retirement plans beginning March 31. A new retirement plan was being developed to tie contributions partly to cash flow performance, according to The Associated Press.

McClatchy stock closed Thursday at 71 cents a share.

It’s not clear how many more rounds of cuts McClatchy’s publications can take in the Carolinas and still be considered “papers of record.”

The State, for example, had to undergo a massive reorganization of its newsroom last summer that essentially moved many of its most-experienced staff into basic entry-level beats. 

Over the years, the paper has had to pull back on much of the in-depth statewide coverage that made it a must-read for citizens in all corners of South Carolina. In addition, some of its longer-tenured reporters have taken buyouts or retired in the past year.

Today, due in part to the perils of public-company journalism, it sometimes struggles just to be a must-read for citizens in all corners of Richland and Lexington counties.

In a bit of good news for The State, the paper said in its Friday editions that it would begin printing the Sumter Item.