Tampa Bay Times lays off 7

The Tampa Bay Times laid off seven journalists last week, Poynter reported.

The layoffs involved five full-timers and two part-timers. Two other openings won’t be filled.

St. Petersburg, Florida-based Poynter owns the paper.

Also, the paper will merge its national and local sections in print Monday through Saturday, Poynter said.

A large auto dealership advertiser was lost to the paper recently and digital revenue did not amount to as much as hoped, Poynter said.

In August, a partnership of Tampa Bay business leaders, including Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeffrey Vinik and Paul Tash, chairman of the Tampa Bay Times, raised its loan to the Times Publishing Company by $3 million. With the boost, the total loan amounts to around $15 million, Poynter said. The Times said the increased funds would go to its pension plan.

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