The Honolulu Star-Bulletin is converting from a broadsheet newspaper to a tabloid and taking steps to deal with the recession.

In publishing as a tabloid, similar in size to MidWeek, the Star-Bulletin will join the ranks of the Chicago Tribune, which added a tabloid last month, and other, mostly newer, publications that publish as tabs.

The newspaper will lay off 17 newsroom employees and an undetermined number of employees elsewhere in the company, Oahu Publications Inc. There will also be a wage freeze.

In addition, the Star-Bulletin will close its neighbor island bureaus, on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. Neighbor island news will continue to be covered, by reporters on Oahu and wire services.

MidWeek is halting production of its weekend edition that had been published on Fridays; this week's edition will be the final one.

The announcements were made by Dennis Francis, president of the company and publishers of the two papers.

As the economy has worsened, there have been cuts by newspapers across the country, including the Honolulu Advertiser, which last week agreed to a tentative contract that includes a 10 percent pay reduction. The newspaper also has cut 150 positions since negotiations on that contract began, according to the Hawaii Newspaper Guild.