The Honolulu Star-Bulletin announced it is laying off about 20 percent of its unionized workforce, citing the sluggish local economy.

The daily newspaper also said yesterday that it will convert from a broadsheet to a tabloid format.

The Star-Bulletin said it will lay off 17 newsroom employees and an undetermined number of nonunion workers. The paper also will close its Neighbor Island bureaus and implement a wage freeze.

Sister publication Midweek will discontinue its Friday edition, although its main Wednesday edition will not be affected, the company said.

"Losing more people is going to hurt," said University of Hawai'i journalism professor Gerald Kato. "This is another sad indication of the state of the newspaper industry. There's just a lot of bloodletting in newsrooms across the country."

The Star-Bulletin has about 92 full-time newsroom staffers. About 80 workers are unionized, according to the Hawaii Newspaper Guild.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Star-Bulletin Publisher Dennis Francis said the layoffs, which go into effect in March, were necessary given the state of Hawai'i's economy.

He said the local advertising downturn is one of the worst he's seen in nearly two decades.

"It's soft for us as it is for all media across town," he said.

The Star-Bulletin's layoffs come as the nation's newspaper industry has lost thousands of jobs in wake of the weak economy and the loss of advertising to the Internet.

The Honolulu Advertiser has laid off about 10 percent of its employees since last summer. The Advertiser recently reached a tentative agreement with unions representing its workers for a 10 percent pay cut. Advertiser employees will hold a ratification vote tomorrow.

Wayne Cahill, administrative officer for the Hawaii Newspaper Guild, said the mood in the Star-Bulletin's newsroom was somber yesterday. He said the layoffs affect newsroom employees hired after August 2006.

According to Cahill, any wage freeze will have to be negotiated with the union. He said that many of the Star-Bulletin's junior employees are entitled to step increases in June while the rest of the newsroom will get raises next year.

Kato, the University of Hawai'i professor, said the conversion to a tabloid format will help save money. He said that tabloid format uses less newsprint, which is one of the largest cost items for a newspaper.

Other newspapers, such as the Chicago Tribune, switched from a broadsheet format to a tabloid to save costs, said Kato. He added the format fits well with the Star-Bulletin's printing presses in Kane'ohe, which produce Midweek, which is a tabloid.

Founded in 1882, the Star-Bulletin is owned by Black Press Ltd. of Canada, which purchased the Star-Bulletin in 2001.