Layoffs Begin at Daily News

Newspapers of Southern California News Group have begun previously announced layoffs. The 11 papers, owned by parent company Digital First Media, include the Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, the Daily Breeze in Torrance, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in Monrovia and the Press-Enterprise in Riverside. An SCNG spokesman confirmed Tuesday that staff in sports and photography departments at some papers had been notified of layoffs. “It is the first phase in the previously announced newsroom restructuring that will take place during the next several weeks,” the spokesman said in an e-mail, adding that the SCNG would have no further comment on future plans. The company declined to provide numbers of those who have or will lose their jobs. The website L.A. Observed quoted tweets from newspaper staffers confirming layoffs. Among them was Daily News sports columnist Tom Hoffarth, who wrote that he is among those laid off.