NY Daily News slashes staff in half after ominous tweet from former editor

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• The Daily News announced Monday it will cut half of its newsroom staff, saying it will focus more on digital news.
• Revenue and print circulation have been sliding at the newspaper for years, even as it provided critical coverage of health issues in public housing and for first responders after the Sept. 11 attacks.
• Former Editor-in-Chief Jim Rich was apparently included in the layoffs, and tweeted an ominous message early Monday morning, saying today was a good day "if you hate democracy".

NEW YORK (AP) - The Daily News announced Monday it will cut half of its newsroom staff, saying it will focus more on digital news.

The nearly 100-year-old paper was sold to tronc Inc. last year for $1, with the owner of the Chicago Tribune assuming liabilities and debt.

Recent reports had said layoffs were coming, but the decision was final in an email sent to staff Monday, tronc said staff at the Daily News will focus on breaking news involving "crime, civil justice and public responsibility."

Revenue and print circulation have been sliding at the newspaper for years, as the paper reportedly lost $90.4 million since 2011 even after it provided critical coverage of health issues in public housing and for first responders after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Former Editor-in-Chief Jim Rich was apparently included in the layoffs, and tweeted an ominous message early Monday morning.

Rich's Twitter bio also reads: "Just a guy sitting at home watching journalism being choked into extinction".

Often called "New York's Hometown Newspaper", the Daily News made waves in recent years with its coverage of gun violence in America that often featured provocative covers.

Rich once said in an interview with CNN the goal of a Daily News' cover was to "give you a punch in the gut".

The Daily News first published on Thursday June 26, 1919 and is one of 10 daily publications owned by tronc, Inc. in addition to the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Baltimore Sun.