Roanoke Times lays off 31 employees

The Roanoke Times announced the layoff of 31 employees on Wednesday, primarily in its digital, technology and production areas.

The reduction in staff is designed to eliminate redundancies and make operations more efficient, the newspaper said.

BH Media, a subsidiary of Omaha, Neb.,-based Berkshire Hathaway, recently bought the newspaper from Norfolk-based Landmark Media Enterprises.

In Virginia, BH Media also owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bristol Herald Courier and The Daily Progress in Charlottesville and other daily and weekly newspapers, all of which were bought last year from Richmond-based Media General Inc.

“While painful, this restructure is aimed at taking advantage of efficiencies within our larger company, leveraging content positions to serve our readers with added local news, information, and advertising well into the future,” Publisher Terry H. Jamerson said in a statement. “

As part of its restructuring, the newspaper plans to add news gathering resources, and its circulation department will reinstitute delivery of missed newspapers in its primary market areas.
After the layoffs,  the Roanoke Times and roanoke.com will have a total of 253 employees.