Newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co. reported weaker sales and profit this morning, as the slump in advertising and circulation revenue continued.

Second-quarter revenue fell to $314.3 million, down 8.1 percent from a year earlier. That rate of decline was an improvement from double-digit declines during the depths of the recession, but still reflects a weak economy that's hurting the newspaper business.

Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy publishes 30 daily papers across the country, including the News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and Miami Herald. Its papers in Florida and California have been especially hard hit by the housing slump and high unemployment rate.

The News & Observer is transferring newsroom production work to a new center in Charlotte.

Beginning in August, the new center will perform copy editing and page design for The N&O and its community newspapers, as well as The Charlotte Observer and The Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., which also are owned by The McClatchy Co.

In all, about 25 N&O positions are being moved to the center, which will be housed in the Observer's building in Charlotte. The papers' computer servers and much of the technical support staff are in Charlotte.

All N&O copy editors and designers will have the opportunity to relocate to the new center.

"Given the new economic realities of our industry, we must find more efficient ways to deliver the very best products to our readers and advertisers, and we are confident the new center will be an important part of our future," said Orage Quarles III, publisher of The N&O.

The McClatchy Co. has sold its waterfront property in downtown Miami for $236 million, as the newspaper publisher divests some real-estate assets to bolster its financial health.

McClatchy, which is the parent corporation of The News & Observer, will use most of the money to fund its pension plan. That will free up more future profits to continue repaying the company's massive debt.

Bond-rating agency Moody's raised its outlook on McClatchy's $1.75 billion of debt to positive from stable after the news.

And McClatchy's shares rose 19 cents to $2.95 today. The stock is still down 37 percent this year.

McClatchy sold the Miami property to Genting, a Malaysian-based developer of casinos and resorts.

The News & Observer will eliminate about 20 jobs in the latest cost-cutting effort by the Raleigh-based media company.

The staff reductions announced today will affect most areas of the company, including the newsroom. Some employees will have the opportunity to accept voluntary severance packages, but a few positions will be eliminated through layoffs.  

The newspaper publisher continues to see declines in print advertising revenue, mirroring similar trends nationwide. Online ad revenue is increasing, but is still a smaller part of the total.

"Although our declines are not as steep as they have been in previous years, revenue trends remain negative year-over-year," publisher Orage Quarles III wrote in a memo to employees this morning. "As a result, we must continue to look for ways to offset this trend by managing expenses.

"We understand how difficult this message is to receive given other reduction programs we have done over the last few years," he wrote. "However, we are working hard to implement new products and improve our revenue performance to help us navigate through these difficult times."

The McClatchy Co. reported weaker fourth-quarter profit and revenue this morning, and the newspaper publisher warned that January brought bigger declines in advertising sales as the economic recovery remains shaky.

The Sacramento, Calif.-based publisher of The News & Observer, Charlotte Observer, Miami Herald and other newspapers across the country has been slashing costs to offset lower ad sales and to repay debt. McClatchy, like other media companies, was hit hard during the recession and is scrambling to beef up its online content as advertisers and readers migrate to the Internet.

For the final quarter of 2010, the company reported adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $33.6 million, or 39 cents per share. That was down from $49.6 million, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 5.9 percent to $369.9 million.

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."

Newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co. has named Anders Gyllenhaal as its top news executive and Washington editor.

Gyllenhaal, 59, has been the executive editor of The Miami Herald since 2007 and previously was top editor at The News & Observer in Raleigh.

Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy owns those papers, as well as 28 other dailies and 43 nondailies across the country.

In his new role as vice president of news, Gyllenhaal joins McClatchy's senior management team and replaces Howard Weaver, who retired in 2008. As Washington editor, he'll oversee the chain's Washington Bureau and foreign news bureaus.

He'll be based in Washington and begins his new jobs on Nov. 1.

Wall Street Journal automotive critic Dan Neil, who won a Pulitzer for his writing at the Los Angeles Times, will be a guest tonight on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher."

Neil worked as a critic for the Auto section of The News & Observer back in the early-to-mid 1990s. In fact, one of his more adult-oriented columns caused a bit of controversy here. That was not the last time Neil would create controversy with his writing. Or with his emails. Or with his spoken words. It's safe to predict he'll be a colorful interview subject for Maher.