LA Times layoffs

[Piotr Rasputin]

The Times minimizing soccer coverage further keeps with the market. While local stalwart Grahame Jones - and all his great institutional knowledge of the game - remains, other papers are cutting way down. The OC register has whacked both of its MLS beats (though not the writers), the Singleton group has coverage. but is beaten on just about every big story, and Riverside Press-Enterprise continues to have some of the better soccer insight in SoCal, thanks to a freelancer who writes constantly.

But as to Armchair's point: brings back a few memories of trying to sell that to my editors. "This is Southern California; we can't minimize soccer coverage!" Some battles won, some lost.

As for now, let's put it this way. Various exoduses, layoffs and cutbacks have greatly reduced soccer coverage in LA. The best coverage of recent years remains in the Times and the Riverside paper, of course. But two years ago (yes, even pre-Beckham), last week's Galaxy-Chivas USA games would have had a packed press box. I'm not sure there were more than eight English-language journalists there last week, in a press box that holds at least triple that.

[OTD]

This from Bob Carey, a long-time photographer and photo editor just laid off from The Times. I think he's right on track:

http://www.cjr.org/parting_thoughts/parting_thoughts_bob_carey.php

[Riddick]

What an excellent read! Best of luck, Bob.

[Ben_Hecht]

This from Bob Carey, a long-time photographer and photo editor just laid off from The Times. I think he's right on track:

http://www.cjr.org/parting_thoughts/parting_thoughts_bob_carey.php

Great piece.

[whatwoulddamondo?]

it'd be nice if the stupid photographer used ap style in his post.

[big green wahoo]

Nice piece, but someone needs to tell Bob that not all those folks in the suburban bureaus were ``redeployed''. Some of us got the ax in the neck, albeit with a nice go-away check.

[slappy4428]

This from Bob Carey, a long-time photographer and photo editor just laid off from The Times. I think he's right on track:

http://www.cjr.org/parting_thoughts/parting_thoughts_bob_carey.php

Well said...

[Simon_Cowbell]

"The decline of the L.A. Times is due mostly to the failure of the members of the Chandler family to exercise even a vestigial shred of stewardship. They should be guiding the Times through an orderly transition to the Internet. They just wanted their money, and now that Sam Zell has given it to them, the wheels are coming off the cart."

I thought the Chandlers were long out of the equation before Zell.

No?

[MileHigh]

No. They had some seats on the board of Tribune, but certainly weren't running things like they did with Times Mirror.

[SF_Express]

No. They had some seats on the board of Tribune, but certainly weren't running things like they did with Times Mirror.

Well, true, but they had to be on board with the sale to Zell, and again, they just wanted their money. Any concern about what happened to the newspaper in terms of quality was long, long gone.

[MileHigh]

Agreed. That ship sailed when Times Mirror dissolved.