A memo from Oregonian executive editor Peter Bhatia today outlined a reorganization plan in which many teams of reporters focused on traditional coverage areas will "cease to exist" in favor of two larger teams. A separate group will handle editing and production.

The memo makes reference to the buyout offer made last month and presumes a smaller workforce. It does not mention newsroom layoffs, though previous memos have made that possibility clear.

"We will not abandon our foundation of beat reporting," the memo says, "but beats will be redefined along areas of expertise of most interest to our readers. Some beats will be eliminated because with fewer people we cannot cover everything that we have in the past."

With "some small exceptions," teams on the fourth and fifth floors of the Oregonian building will be dissolved. Those include online, business, photography, news teams, copy desk, features and A&E (O!). Other teams on those floors — sports, Homes & Gardens, FOODday, travel and editorial — will remain separate.

Eliminating these smaller groups does not mean that their corresponding newspaper sections will be eliminated, sources at the paper confirm.

One of the new, larger groups, titled "Local Expertise and Enterprise Reporting," will include 60 to 70 reporters, editors and support staff. Beats will include politics and government, sustainability, business and economy, and arts and culture. This group will also cover breaking news, watchdog and investigative reporting, and narrative storytelling.

The other group of reporters, titled "Community," will cover zoned content (stories focused on, and printed for, specific geographic areas) as well as hyperlocal websites that are in development. But community webpages will not only be geographically specific. "Community more and more also means communities of interest," the memo says, "and hyperlocal topic pages will be a key part of our Web work."

"For most reporters," the memo continues, "beats will still be the primary focus, creating the enterprising journalism we value. With a smaller staff there will be increased expectations of productivity, flexibility and greater responsibility for Web work. Reporters will need to jump in on issues that require our attention more often than has been the case and work different hours as news and Web needs dictate."

The memo also lays out changes to the editing process, a reduced focus on the evening print deadline, an increased emphasis on audience interaction, and the primary differences between print and online. Read the memo in full after the break. Bracketed explanations are ours:

The Oregonian rolled out a new feature today for readers in suburbs southwest of Portland. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the paper will be running centerpiece packages on the front page of the Metro section focusing on Lake Oswego, West Linn, Tigard and Tualatin. Wilsonville and Sherwood will be featured on occasion.

Managing editor Susan Gage writes that the effort is "part of a strategy by the newspaper to get back to giving readers daily news and information that's more specifically targeted to their part of the world -- where they live, work, have kids in schools."

The Oregonian is also working toward city-specific pages on OregonLive.com.