Southern California News Group, an umbrella company of 11 area newspapers including the Los Angeles Daily News in Woodland Hills, the Orange County Register, Pasadena Star-News, and the Daily Breeze, is offering a buyout plan to newsroom employees.

SCNG spokesman Eric Morgan confirmed Tuesday that newsroom employees were offered a voluntary severance plan on Friday. He wouldn’t comment further.

The buyout option news comes in the wake of a report in OC Weekly citing Orange County Register sources saying they were expecting massive layoffs at the Register and sister papers.

The SCNG buyout also follows a similar offer for employees at the Los Angeles Times in June. That voluntary severance plan was limited to non-union employees with at least 15 years of service at the company and excluded the manufacturing, distribution and operations departments.

SCNG newspapers are published by Denver-based parent company Digital First Media.

Contact media and entertainment reporter Diane Haithman at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @dhaithman for the latest in L.A. business news.