Chicago Sun-Times to cut 35 newsroom jobs

The Chicago Sun-Times may lay off up to 35 unionized newsroom staffers in the next four weeks as it struggles to cut costs in the face of falling circulation and advertising revenue, a spokeswoman confirmed on Friday.

The cuts would amount to nearly 20 percent of the paper's 188 unionized newsroom positions.

The Sun-Times is owned by the Sun-Times Media Group , formerly known as Hollinger International Inc. The company said in December that it planned to cut operating costs by $50 million in 2008. Sun-Times Media also recently laid off 31 editorial employees of the Tinley Park-based Daily Southtown after combining the paper with its Star publications to create the SouthtownStar.

The parent company owns dozens of local Chicago area newspapers, including the Beacon News in Aurora and Courier News in Elgin. The group owns newspapers in Batavia, Downers Grove, Geneva, Glen Ellyn, Lisle, Naperville, St. Charles and Wheaton.

The Sun-Times joins a growing list of U.S. newspapers that are eliminating jobs through layoffs and buyouts to cut expenses in face of a weakening economy and a diminished appetite for printed papers.