Independent News & Media (INM) plans to make about 60 redundancies from its 250 Independent editorial staff by the New Year, in a US-style slash-and-burn that this country has rarely seen outside regionals and magazines. In all, 90 of 424 total staff will go in a bid to save £10 million, FT.com says. INM sales fell 14.1 percent in the UK between January and June - with the ad recession biting harder now, it’s the staff who are in the firing line…

UK MD Simon Kelner (via FT.com): “If we are to safeguard the future of the papers, there is no other way to do it. You just can’t go racking up losses. It’s unviable and unrealistic.” FT.com: “He said the business had been struggling with both the (ad decline), but also the structural pressure from the migration of revenues and readers onto the internet.”

So, just as Telegraph Media Group has looked to reform the role of subeditor, INM, too will get rid of some subs for the online age, Kelner said: “We have got 1986 working practices and 2008 technology. Reporter’s copy can come under five sets of eyes. That is just not necessary with the technology we have now. You can get rid of at least one of those levels of process.”

Clearly, something needs to be done. Despite a full-colour relaunch and some of the most creative front pages in the business, The Indie’s circulation of just 201,019 on average per day (the smallest of any UK quality title) is a drop of over 12 percent on last year, while its good-looking new Independent.co.uk trails everyone bar Mirror Group on 7.99 million monthly users. Reports today emerged that Zac Goldsmith had earlier held tentative talks to buy the paper, which now looks likely to co-locate some back-office functionality with DMGT.