The Akron Beacon Journal has laid off an unspecified number of newsroom staffers, according to a story posted on Ohio.com, the newspaper's companion website.

The story, published Friday, May 24, carried the byline of Bill Albrecht, group publisher for GateHouse Media Ohio. GateHouse Media owns the Beacon and several other Ohio newspapers.

Albrecht wrote that the layoffs were the result of financial pressures on the newspaper industry.

Messages to both Albrecht and GateHouse's corporate office were not immediately returned.

"We are saddened by the loss of our colleagues and friends — good people who dedicated themselves to keeping you informed," Albrecht said.

Albrecht said in the story that GateHouse earlier this year had begun identifying its core audiences and what topics were most important to its readers. The company moved to structure its newsrooms accordingly.

"This initiative ensures we are focusing precious local resources on the most impactful topics and stories," Albrecht wrote. "That became even more important this week as we lost colleagues to layoffs resulting from the significant financial pressures on the newspaper industry. We're addressing those pressures both with belt-tightening and strategic reinvestment in investigative and data-driven enterprise reporting."

He added that GateHouse is building a national investigative and data-reporting team of 30 editors and reporters that will be embedded in newsrooms to add to local efforts.

GateHouse in April 2018 purchased the Beacon Journal and its website from Black Press Group Ltd. for $16 million. The company also owns The Repository in Canton, The Daily Record in Wooster, the Independent in Massillon, The Times-Reporter in New Philadelphia and the Record-Courier in Kent.

Albrecht was brought on as group publisher in May 2018 and oversees the Beacon Journal and several other of the company's Ohio newspapers.

Poynter.org reported on Thursday, May 23, that GateHouse — which owns 156 daily newspapers and 328 weeklies — was cutting jobs across the country.

The layoffs at the Beacon come on the heels of job losses at another of Northeast Ohio's big newspapers, The Plain Dealer, which laid off 14 newsroom employees in April and another 29 editorial staffers earlier this month as page production moved to a centralized system. The Plain Dealer is owned by Advance Publications.