Melanie Sill, a former executive editor of The News & Observer, will be joining the Annenburg School for Communications & Journalism at the University of Southern California.

Sill left the N&O in 2007 to take the top editing spot at the Sacramento Bee in California. The McClatchy Co. owns both newspapers.

The Bee announced Sill's resignation on Monday.

Sill, 52, a UNC Chapel Hill graduate, worked at the N&O for almost 25 years, and as projects editor led the investigation into the hog industry that won a Pulitizer Prize in 1996.

At USC, Sill's six-month executive-in-residence position will focus on citizen journalism, a longtime interest.

The Bee named her replacement: Joyce Terhaar, the paper's managing editor for content.

Read the Bee's story here.

The News & Observer will eliminate 20 positions across its operations as the slowly recovering economy continues to hurt ad sales.

Employees who are being affected are being told today; some will have the opportunity to accept a voluntary severance package.

Publisher Orage Quarles III informed employees of the staff reduction in an e-mail Tuesday.

"We continue to make our way through difficult times by making difficult decisions," he wrote. "It is never easy to say goodbye to our friends and colleagues, but we must make these additional cuts to sustain our company and adjust to economic realities."

McClatchy Co., the Sacramento-based parent of The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, reported a first-quarter profit.

However, the company reported a loss of $2 million from continuing operations due to various charges for restructuring as well as refinancing its debt.

Net income for the quarter was $2.2 million but that was boosted by a one-time gain of $4.2 million from discontinued operations. It lost $37.5 million in the first quarter of 2009. Those losses included charges for severance.

The company, which operates 30 daily newspapers, was helped by lower operating expenses.

Advertising revenues were $252.9 million, down 11.2 percent from the first quarter of 2009, an improvement over the 20.5 percent decline it saw in the last quarter of 2009.

Shares were trading at $6.15, down 68 cents at midday.