More than 140 employees will have to leave the Star Tribune, mostly through voluntary buyouts, Publisher and CEO Par Ridder announced today at a long-awaited 3.p.m. meeting with all employees.

That means the state’s largest newspaper will be losing some 7 percent of its more than 2,000 employees. Job cuts will affect several departments, including the newsroom, which will reportedly lose about 50 employees.

“Revenue has been declining since 2004, and we need to respond to that reality.