Phoenix paper may cut standalone biz section

The Arizona Republic, the daily paper in Phoenix owned by Gannett, may drop its standalone business section and put business news inside another section, reports Mike Sunnucks of the Phoenix Business Journal.

Sunnucks writes, “The latest round of layoffs at The Arizona Republic could prompt some major changes for the newspaper’s business, community and editorial pages.

“The business section may be folded permanently into the Valley & State section except for the Sunday edition, according to multiple sources familiar with the ongoing changes at the Gannett-owned daily. The business section currently stands alone some days, but is included in the Valley & State section on others.

“Business coverage has been eroding at daily newspapers nationwide in recent years as they dedicate less staff and news space to such stories.

“The Republic’s community sections and coverage also could be revamped, consolidated or eliminated. The newspaper laid off as many as 29 workers yesterday, according to Gannett Blog.”

Read more here. Most metro dailies cut their standalone business sections in 2008 and 2009, but some have been bringing back standalone business sections, most notably the Orange County Register and the Chicago Tribune, in the past year.