The parent company of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and MidWeek has laid off 23 workers.

Dennis Francis, president of Oahu Publications Inc., which owns both newspapers, said the layoffs are the result of the company's decision to cease publication of the afternoon edition of the Star-Bulletin and the Friday edition of MidWeek.

By going to a morning-only format for the Star-Bulletin, the company eliminated its afternoon shift, he said. Workers affected included pressmen and distribution workers.

In February, the company announced that it was laying off 17 newsroom employees, closing its Neighbor Island bureaus and implementing a wage freeze.

Oahu Publications employs 312 people, Francis said.

The layoffs come as the nation's newspaper industry has lost thousands of jobs because of economic conditions and advertising revenue due to the Internet.

The Honolulu Advertiser has laid off about 10 percent of its employees since last summer and reached an agreement with its unions for a 10 percent wage cut.