LA Times layoffs

[slappy4428]

You could picture Bill Dwyre --- he's now a columnist, right? --- resigning at any moment in disgust.   

Frankly, I hope so. He belongs to a different and better era there, a link back to Otis Chandler. I'm optimistic that he doesn't need their paychecks anymore, and his name always stood for the journalism of what we do, not the miserable, low-grade management foisted upon it.

And yet, the sad part is that the suits wouldn't care or grasp the meaning behind it. Just one higher paid employee off the ledger.

[westcoastvol]

I just cancelled my subscription. Had it in some form or another since I moved here in '94.

The paper pretty much completely blows now. I wonder if/when Plaschke's gonna start covering City Council meetings.

[Billy Monday]

The guy's name is Jay Christensen, out after two decades.

http://thewizardofodds.blogspot.com/2008/07/man-behind-curtain.html

[playthrough]

That's one of my favorite stops in the blog world. Hang in there, Jay.

[Moderator1]

Here, via The Pipeline, is the sports list from LA:

--ASE Bob Rohwer, writers Jaime Cardenas, Martin Henderson, Eric Stephens, Larry Stewart, Bob Mieszerski, Peter Yoon, Steve Springer. Also, ASE Alex Kimball is leaving for ESPN.com
--Copy editors Jay Christensen, Paul Netter and Bob Cuomo.
--Designers Joel Huerto and Steve Pratt.

That's THIRTEEN for those who don't want to count, not counting Mr. Kimball.  Thanks to DC for checking behind me, he/she must be a copy editor.

[Dickens Cider]

God, that sucks. And fuckabuncha Sam Zell.

How much a percentage is that from the Times' sports staff?

EDIT: I count 13, not including Kimball.

[Moderator1]

You are right, it is 13. My bad.   Not sure of the percentage.

I'm told, though it is not confirmed, that Springer may have raised his hand for this to save someone else.  Maybe he has something else lined up?  Good for him if so.

[MileHigh]

I do know the copy desk -- and possibly the designers -- aren't considered part of "sports" but the copy (and design?) desk for the entire newsroom, but like in my shop, they work exclusively in sports. Still, no way to sugarcoat it: That's a big hit.

[SF_Express]

I know things have changed there some over the years, but there are at least three guys in there with a lot of prep experience, and that's just a further diminishment of a beat the good people on it always fought hard to do well at, but who were always kind of kept on the back burner by the overall direction of the section.

[WriteThinking]

These cuts/departures make the Times' sports department smaller by:

17.9% among columnists/reporters (7 of 39), 27.7% among the layout/copy desk (5 of 18) and 20% among editors/managers (2 of 10).

[LazyReporter]

Eric Stephens is the Ducks beat guy. They cut the beat writer for the team that won the Stanley freaking Cup last season! 

Incredibly nice guy, too. I feel bad for him. He's fairly young (30-35ish) and he's got two or three school-aged kids.

[big green wahoo]

The LAT prep coverage, which once was detailed beat work from the San Diego section border to the Santa Barbara line is a fraction of that now.

I know players, parents, coaches, administrators and fans have to wonder what the hell happened to have their coverage go from full bore to virtually nothing in less than a decade.

Preps guru Eric Sondheimer is tireless, but pretty soon he's going to be the only one there working that beat.

[SF_Express]

The LAT prep coverage, which once was detailed beat work from the San Diego section border to the Santa Barbara line is a fraction of that now.

I know players, parents, coaches, administrators and fans have to wonder what the hell happened to have their coverage go from full bore to virtually nothing in less than a decade.

Preps guru Eric Sondheimer is tireless, but pretty soon he's going to be the only one there working that beat.

Of course, the odd part was it was much bigger in the bureaus than downtown.

Now, of course, they think they might want to be more local again ... what a concept.

[SoCalDude]

   Eric Stephens was nicknamed "Ice" even before he knew what a hockey puck was ... because he is a cool guy. He did a great job on the Ducks. So, how do they explain that: "We've eliminated your position." Ok, they're not covering the Ducks anymore???
   Cuomo has been there probably 30+ years. Yoon, unfortunately, was like everybody's backup, on golf, on Morning Briefing, and he did the local colleges. That spot probably was doomed.
   Stewart and Mieszerski were horse guys. Both landed at LAT when the Herald Examiner folded. Most people in town were surprised LAT picked up Stewart when other, better newsmen were available. Mieszerski had his niche. But in the overall scope of things, horse racing coverage is going to take a hit. Dwyre probably can do what Stewart/Mieszerski did from a story perspective. Springer, too, is a veteran guy who did boxing and was in a backup role.
   Still, this is a huge hit for LAT and newspapers, period. Another truly sad day.

[big green wahoo]

Very true. Some of the country's best prep athletes could have seen the LAT building from the roof of their schools if there hadn't been smog. And despite that proximity, they barely got any coverage at all.

Meanwhile, Fillmore High's strong safety is being written up for his skill at canning strawberries with his grandmother on Sunday mornings.

It was a weird time. But a good one.

[Mr. X]

   Stewart and Mieszerski were horse guys. Both landed at LAT when the Herald Examiner folded. Most people in town were surprised LAT picked up Stewart when other, better newsmen were available.

Larry Stewart's arrival at the Los Angeles Times far predates the 1989 folding of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.  I think he joined The Times in 1978.  He had worked for the Herald Examiner.

[truman]

here's a recently updated list ... not just of sports, but the whole staff

http://www.tellzell.com/2008/07/list_15.html

[RamonaShelburne]

Wow. Wow. There's so much institutional knowledge leaving the LAT. Steve Springer is one of the most knowledgeable basketball and boxing guys in the country. He's got a great career as an author --just wrote De La Hoya's new autobiography -- so I can understand how he'd be in a position to raise his hand to save someone else, if that is indeed the case. But still, there's just so much institutional knowledge, walking out the door.

This makes me very sad.

[SF_Express]

A lot of OC and even SD alums on there, and a lot of great people.

[MileHigh]

Damn. Two former nonsports colleagues on there. One, Rosemary McClure, just won a prestigious travel writing award. And Marc Nurre is a fantastic word editor.
SHIT.

[Birdscribe]

A lot of OC and even SD alums on there, and a lot of great people.

No doubt.

Steve Harvey? The guy who wrote "Only in LA" for years and also did the "Bottom 10." Chuck Phillips won a Pulitzer, I believe.

Joel Huerto was a hell of a designer. And Peter Yoon, a friend of mine, was a very underrated writer. The guy covered everything: golf, preps, volleyball, colleges, you name it.

Unreal. Absolutely unreal.

[SF_Express]

No doubt.

Steve Harvey? The guy who wrote "Only in LA" for years and also did the "Bottom 10." Chuck Phillips won a Pulitzer, I believe.

Joel Huerto was a hell of a designer. And Peter Yoon, a friend of mine, was a very underrated writer. The guy covered everything: golf, preps, volleyball, colleges, you name it.

Unreal. Absolutely unreal.

You know who a lot of those people are, Birdscribe? Absolutely pros who wrote headlines, didn't make them, who put out a quality paper for a long time, who were the guts of the paper but people you didn't hear much about and who, best I can tell, are gone because they did their jobs too well for too long and became expensive and expendable.

I hope there's at least one age-discrimination suit that comes out of this, or more.

[MileHigh]

Phillips did win the Pulitzer, and also was at the center of the Sean Combs disaster.

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/chuck_philips_leaving_tim.php

Steve Harvey is great. He's been there at least 25 years I want to say.

[RamonaShelburne]

No doubt.

Steve Harvey? The guy who wrote "Only in LA" for years and also did the "Bottom 10." Chuck Phillips won a Pulitzer, I believe.

Joel Huerto was a hell of a designer. And Peter Yoon, a friend of mine, was a very underrated writer. The guy covered everything: golf, preps, volleyball, colleges, you name it.

Unreal. Absolutely unreal.

You know who a lot of those people are, Birdscribe? Absolutely pros who wrote headlines, didn't make them, who put out a quality paper for a long time, who were the guts of the paper but people you didn't hear much about and who, best I can tell, are gone because they did their jobs too well for too long and became expensive and expendable.

I hope there's at least one age-discrimination suit that comes out of this, or more.

I agree, a lot of the folks laid off were older. But it wasn't a completely broad brush. Jaime is in his early 20s, Stephens and Yoon in their 30s and Henderson probably a little older than that.

[micropolitan guy]

Can't get Truman's link to work. Did international reporter Kim Murphy survive the cut? Knew her way back in the day.