LA Times (update) will cut 150 from newsroom, 250 overall

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

I don't usually disagree with Joe Williams, but here goes: The LAT does more important, issues-oriented stories, and more projects and on-site reporting for the sake of public service than just about any other newspaper in the country.

And a circulation of some 800,000, or so, does not indicate that nobody is subscribing, or reading. Certainly, fewer people are reading the print edition than in previous decades, but obviously, the paper's audience is still there, and it's potential to grow is probably greater than at most places, if the paper can get the formula for success figured out.

Furthermore, the value and high regard of the LAT within this business probably cannot be overstated. Even now, I would wager that there are very few on this board -- not even clutchcargo -- who would turn down a chance to work there, in almost any capacity, if it were offered.

The Times' problems these days parallel those of other newspapers, only they are being experienced on a larger, more visible scale, precisely because it is a heavyweight in the industry.

Depending upon whether or not this paper finds the formula for success in today's changing landscape, there is both more to gain, and more to lose.

And let's not forget a couple other issues that probably are having an effect on the Times these days:

*Zell is not a newspaper man, and doesn't see the intrinsic value of them.

*Even underneath Zell, the powers that be at the paper are radio people, not newspapermen.

*And all of them are in it to make (more) money -- more money than can probably be brought in, especially considering all the debt, something that was cited previously.

*As is true of a lot of places, the Times is now offering less in its print product than it used to, and still not enough on the Web. To think that readers don't notice or care about this has been the dumbest of all the dumb moves and mindsets that have occurred at newspapers.

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

Here are a few problems unique to L.A.:
*$13 billion in debt.
*No city center; a sprawling circulation that covers over 500 square miles. Making it a very difficult city to cover locally.
*Loss of aerospace and automobile manufacturing centers.
*Changing demographic. Nearly 40% of the city is ESL (English Second Language).
*A real estate market in shambles (a high-advertising sector). Foreclosures in many of the literate parts of the county.
*No central mass transit system which limits rack sale opportunities.
*The list goes on for many more bullets...Append the aforementioned to the industry's woes and we have a media structure in peril.

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

Speaking of bullet points, Recovering Journalist presented some that make a lot more sense than the political nonsense.

http://recoveringjournalist.typepad.com/recovering_journalist/2008/06/death-of-almost-1000-cuts.html

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

This massive recession is at the feet of right leaners.

Remotely arguable?

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

This reminds me of a quote by former UCLA athletic director Pete Dalis: "The only way to make everybody happy is to win all your games then fire the coach."

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

Why have editorials at all? I have never met anyone feeble-minded enough to be influenced by a newspaper editorial. The reader, if they didn't just arrive in town yesterday, knows what's going to be in them. If you're shrinking papers, that's the first page to cut.
It will, of course, be the last page cut. Most newspaper owners would rather lose money than lose their opportunity to shoot their mouth off and play the civic big shot.

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

Agree on the "one in a million" stupidity of this.

It's the kind of thing I'm reading from live-in-their-mother's-basement bottom-feeders on message boards under stories announcing cutbacks at a Florida paper.

Of course: It is only in the past five years that newspapers have been accused of being "liberal rags."

Oh, wait: They were being called that back in the '60s, '70s, '80s and early '90s, when newspaper circulation was skyrocketing.

I guess liberal-media-conspiracy-theory conservatives just noticed. Read into that what you will.

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

Good point. I'm increasingly starting to think editorials cause us more trouble than they're worth. Nobody outside the political class pays any attention to them, and they give loads of ammunition to the crowd that's convinced we're all biased and don't buy the fine distinction between opinion and news content.
Plus, if you've got 3 or 4 editorial writers, that's 3 or 4 reporters you don't have out on the street (probably more than 3 or 4, since they tend to be older and better paid). And we need all the reporters we can get.

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

Some good points, but obviously, it's too late to put the "liberal media" genie back in the bottle. So that won't matter.

My traditional side also says that this would be abdicating some of the "public service" responsibility of a newspaper, which is supposed to have the information resources to be a community leader on an issue. I don't think I believe that should go away.

Also, I posted first and read later on my original response to clutchcargo. Agree with others: The L.A. Times has historically been, overall, one of the more moderate "liberal rags" you'll find.

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

I had a conversation with my co-workers at my day job, all of whom are smarter than myself, and they were AMAZED to learn how disconnected editorials are from the rest of the paper and what's in it. This misconception is a problem that can be easily remedied. Get rid of 'em. And BTW, make a big promotional splash about doing so.

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

PS: The LA Times was, until the late '60s, a virulently right-wing paper. That's why it got dynamited in 1910.

 

Re: LA Times layoffs rumor

Ah, but they have an answer for that.

"Thanks to the internet and Fox News, we now have a CHOICE and are not dependent on liberal rags for our news!"