The Charlotte Observer will lay off 26 employees in an effort to battle continued revenue declines, publisher Ann Caulkins announced today.

Company officials were notifying those workers, including four in the newsroom, this morning. In some departments, employees were given the option to volunteer for a buyout. More than half of the cuts will come from operations; Caulkins said the Observer is transferring its pre-run printing to a sister paper in Columbia, S.C.

The company is also freezing 25 vacant positions, she said.

Caulkins said the paper continues to experience year-over-year revenue declines. Local advertising has improved, but national accounts are still weak, and it's difficult to predict when those sales will rebound, she said.

"The revenue picture remains challenging for us, but there are signs of recovery, and we remain optimistic," she said in an e-mail to employees. "We are seeing signs of improvement in various areas of the business, and we are working hard to develop new products and find new business every day."

The changes come as the Observer reaches more readers than ever - more than 1 million online and in print each week. Yet the newspaper, like others across the country, hasn't been able to generate comparable revenue from its online product. The company currently has about 500 employees.

This morning's announcement is the latest in a series of job cuts since the recession began and the second so far this year. But Caulkins and Observer editor Rick Thames said they worked hard to preserve the paper's newsgathering and watchdog roles and would continue to do so.

"In our cost reduction plan, we worked to protect our core mission of delivering the best news and advertising products in our region while trying to minimize the number of employees impacted," Caulkins said.