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San Francisco could become the biggest city in the United States without a daily newspaper if the San Francisco Chronicle's owner, Hearst, follows through on a threat to shut its doors.
The historic newspaper company says the Chronicle's 1500 staff must agree to deep cuts and scores of redundancies if they want to save the paper.
The crisis in the US newspaper industry has accelerated in recent weeks, as proprietors respond to a collapse in advertising revenue that has been compounding the longer-term problem of declining readership.
Dozens of local titles are under threat of closure and two regional newspaper groups went bankrupt last weekend.
The San Francisco Chronicle would be by far the biggest casualty to date. It is the 12th most read paper in the US, serving the country's 14th-largest city by population. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom warned of the consequences of its closure.
"The Chronicle plays an important role in our civic life and we don't want to see this treasured institution close its doors," he said. Hearst says the Chronicle is losing US$50 million ($98 million) a year.
"Survival is the outcome we all want to achieve," the company's chief executive, Frank Bennack, said.
"But without specific changes we will have no choice but to quickly seek a buyer for the Chronicle, and, should a buyer not be found, to shut [it down]."
Across the US newspaper industry, advertising revenues are falling faster than at any point in 37 years.
- INDEPENDENT
