Home of 'The Wire' Baltimore Sun slashes staff

The cuts at the Tribune-owned title will see senior editors, managers, columnists, photographers and designers all lose their jobs.

The cuts come as part of a reorganisation at The Baltimore Sun to help it whether the downturn, which has hit newspapers across the US hard -- in December parent company Tribune went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Baltimore Sun said that the cuts will hit nearly every type of job in the 205-strong newsroom with sports reporters, copy editors, page designers and graphic artists all at risk.

Renee Mutchnik, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Sun Media Group, said: "We're going to become a 24-hour, local news-gathering media company so we can more effectively gather content and distribute it among our different platforms -- print, online and mobile.

"As everyone knows, more and more readers are moving online, and advertisers are following them.

"This is our plan for success, not just survival."

Staff at The Baltimore Sun had been expecting some cuts, but the scale has taken many by surprise.

Angie Kuhl, chairwoman of the Newspaper Guild at The Baltimore Sun's, said: "It's stunning, just the breadth of them across the board."

The cuts this year follow 100 jobs losses last year across The Baltimore Sun Media Group with many going through voluntary redundancy.

Those jobs went as part of Tribune's moves to redesign all of its newspapers to reduce them in size and staff.

Many television viewers from around the world have come to know the name of The Baltimore Sun through the critically acclaimed drama series 'The Wire', which tackles the worlds of drugs seen through the eyes of politicians, the police and the media, specifically The Baltimore Sun.

David Simon, the writer of 'The Wire' worked for the Baltimore Sun city desk for twelve years.

'The Wire' is currently airing in the UK on BBC Two following a previous run on digital channel FX.

BR's full coverage of the downturn and the US newspaper industry.

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