Tribune Interactive Layoffs

The cuts hit the editorial, marketing and sales staffs at LATimes.com. Fourteen other employees at Tribune Interactive offices in Chicago also got pink slips as part of a 12 percent cut in the company’s Internet operations.

Tribune spokesman John Lynday told the Associated Press the cuts are necessary to help the online division “focus its resources on revenue-driving initiatives … and accelerate its progress toward profitability.”

Lynday also said 46 positions previously open will not be filled.

The Chicago-based Tribune Co. finalized its purchase of Times Mirror, publisher of the Los Angeles Times and the Baltimore Sun, in mid-June.

The company’s interactive branch is also behind ChicagoTribune.com and ChicagoSports.com.

The layoffs at the Tribune are only the latest blow to the realm of online news.

Streaming media site Pseudo.com went under last month after a strong presence at the Republican National Convention failed to generate the capital investment necessary for the site to continue.

Legal news site APBnews.com struggled throughout the summer after finding its coffers empty, despite its award-winning in-depth reports on crime.

Over the summer Salon.com and the Web sites for NBC and CBS also tightened their belts. In June, Salon cut its staff by 10 percent and its budget by 20, while CBS laid off nearly a quarter of its Internet staff. NBC Interactive laid off 20 percent of its staff in August, pink-slipping 170 employees.