More aggressive cost cutting at Tribune, which is doing everything in its power to avoid default… The flagship paper Chicago Tribune announced today that it will eliminate 80 newsroom positions of its 578 total. Some positions will be lost via attrition, so the actual number of cuts is more like 55-58. An AP report pegs the estimated cost savings at around $8.8 million, though the paper’s own report just quotes managing editor Hanke Gratteau citing “financial pressures”. It also notes that as of late 2005, the newsroom had 670 positions.

Elsewhere in the corporation, the Baltimore Sun announced it would be eliminating its standalone business section, a cost-cutting decision that’s becoming increasingly common. A report from the Maryland Daily Record says the last edition of the business section will be July 6.

The moves are, well, the latest in a long string of efforts to cut costs and shore up capital. The sale of Newsday was the biggest effort at deleveraging the balance sheet, though there have been job cuts elsewhere, including, most notably, the LA Times.

• Tribune Gets $300 Million Loan To Pay Down Existing Debt
• LA Times Cuts 250 Jobs; 150 Cuts in Editorial Include Online
• Lauren Rich Fine On Tribune’s Changes And The Newspaper Industry
• Not The Newspaper As You Know It: Tribune Plans Vast Changes, Cutting Pages, Jobs