The Omaha World-Herald has eliminated 51 jobs to help deal with the rising cost of newsprint and the weakening economy.

Publisher Terry Kroeger says the World-Herald's newsprint costs increased nearly 50 percent over the past year.

The cuts represent about 7 percent of the World-Herald's employees. The newspaper did not say whether news jobs were among those eliminated.

The employee-owned World-Herald, the state's largest newspaper, is delivered throughout Nebraska and western Iowa. The newspaper says it has a daily circulation of 169,722, and a Sunday circulation of 216,285.

In July, the state's second-largest newspaper, the Lincoln Journal Star, eliminated 16 jobs. The cuts included eight in the newsroom.