Gatehouse Media, which is planning to merge with USA Today owner Gannett, has quietly begun a round of newsroom cuts.

More than two dozen newsroom staffers were reportedly laid off from at least 10 papers, including the Providence Journal and the Oklahoman, the Associated Press reported.

The cuts began only a week after Gatehouse’s owner, New Media Investment Group, announced its $1.4 billion cash-and-stock deal to take over Gannett to form the largest newspaper chain in the country.

But the decline in New Media Investment Group stock since it was announced means the acquisition is now valued at only about $1.2 billion.

The two dozen new cuts are only a sliver of the 10,000-plus employees at Gatehouse, which publishes more 150 dailies and 500 weeklies mostly in small-market America.

Still, layoffs are making some staffers worry that more slashing could be in store should the merger come to pass.

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“Gatehouse doesn’t have a vision for growing revenue, only cutting costs,” Andrew Pantazi, a reporter at the Florida Times-Union, a Gatehouse paper in Jacksonville, Fla., told the AP, which first reported the new round of cuts. “Eventually, they’ll run out of costs to cut.”

It is the second round of newsroom snips in recent months. Gatehouse made about two dozen cuts only this past May.

In his roadshow and in public comments, New Media CEO Michael Reed has said the merger would secure up to $300 million in synergies and would “not only preserve but actually enhance quality journalism.”

Reed said that the savings would come primarily from “centralizing” functions such as finance, sales, digital services and tech — but never mentioned newsroom cuts.

In a down day for the stock market generally, Gannett finished 8 cents lower, to close at $10.38 a share, while New Media’s shares dipped 1.3 percent, to $8.43.

A shareholder vote is not expected until November.