San Diego Union Tribune Newspaper

The San Diego Union-Tribune, owned by Copley Press Inc., said it would cut at least 43 newsroom jobs and 40 other positions to reduce costs in response to "economic challenges" in the newspaper industry. The company, which has 1,422 employees, disclosed a voluntary buyout plan for nonunion workers in a memo Monday. If the number of applications falls short, the Union-Tribune will lay off people, according to the memo posted on the independent online newspaper site Voiceofsandiego.org.

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, they recall how publisher Helen K. Copley would stride into her Monday morning meetings with the newspaper's editorial board, regal and clearly the woman in charge. In tow, usually several paces behind her, shuffled David C. Copley, her shy, overweight son. The young newspaper executive often wore his wraparound sunglasses. Only rarely did he speak.

Ira C. Copley had already made one fortune in the utility business, started a second in newspapers and won a seat in Congress by the time he set his sights on San Diego's newspapers in 1928. The sugar-rich Spreckels family sold the Midwesterner its morning Union and Evening Tribune -- a transaction Copley celebrated with a dinner at the grand Hotel del Coronado.