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| NYT: El Lay Times Editor Openly Defies OwnerÂ’s Call for Job Cuts |
| 2006-09-16 |
| The editor of The Los Angeles Times appears to be in a showdown with the paper’s owner, the Tribune Company, over job cuts in the newsroom. In a highly unusual move, Dean P. Baquet, who was named editor last year, was quoted yesterday in his own newspaper as saying he was defying the paper’s corporate parent in Chicago and would not make the cuts it requested. The paper’s publisher, Jeffrey M. Johnson, said he agreed with Mr. Baquet. “Newspapers can’t cut their way into the future,” he told the paper. The number of jobs at stake is unclear but the paper, the fourth largest in the country, has eliminated more than 200 positions over the last five years from an editorial staff that now numbers about 940. “I am not averse to making cuts,” Mr. Baquet told the paper. “But you can go too far, and I don’t plan to do that.” The paper reported that Scott C. Smith, president of the Tribune Publishing division, had asked the paper’s executives to come up with a plan for trimming their budgets, but when Mr. Smith visited Los Angeles late last month, they had produced no such plan. Mr. Baquet “made his opposition to further cuts clear and said there was no need for further discussion,” the paper reported. |
| Posted by:Thomose Sneash1945 |
| #5 Keep the Cubbies. Sell the LA Times. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2006-09-16 22:42 |
| #4 Oh, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE sell the Cubbies. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-09-16 18:03 |
| #3 In the brave new world of journalism, everyone's an editor. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2006-09-16 16:53 |
| #2 940 editorial staff? You'd think they would be able to put out a quality product. Obviously ideologically driven peter principled hires...read Patterico and you'll see just how bad the paper is |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-16 16:19 |
| #1 Someone has a very serious misunderstand of who an owner is. When the investors decide their dollar gets a better return on something else, its going to be interesting to see how long you can run on empty. an editorial staff that now numbers about 940 Sounds like the Educational Professionals crying about cuts in the admin overhead back at the main office. “Newspapers can’t cut their way into the future,” That's the problem, they are the past. I'm sure the horse and buggy manufactures and horse breeders thought it would last for ages too, if it wasn't for Mr. Benz and Mr. Ford. “In this rapidly changing media environment, we are all working together to best serve our communities, customers and shareholders.” Notice the last one in line is the shareholders? Someone forgot that the only reason a commerical business exists is to derive a benefit to its shareholders? This just in - the Soviet Union fell. Communism doesn't work. Neither does its half brother, Socialism. It just takes a wee bit longer for rigor mortise to set in. He said many in the newsroom thought Tribune would be reluctant to fire the editor and the publisher because doing so could bring further embarrassment and spell chaos for the already troubled company. But it is not clear how the company will respond. I understand Donald Trump is not busy this season. |
| Posted by: Anguns Elmolurt1126 2006-09-16 15:51 |