J.A. Adande seeks LAT buyout

[MileHigh]

So says L.A. Observed, which is pretty reliable. It doesn't necessarily mean the paper will accept the offer.

Also, Dodgers writer Steve Henson is mentioned as wanting to take the deal.

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/buyout_chatter_at_lat.php

 

[nutgraph]

i'd be surprised if the los angeles times allows j.a. adande to go. he's the section's first african-american sports columnist and he does an excellect job. i hope this doesn't mean more bill dwyre in the paper. as for steve henson, former long-time preps writer, he's solid. but the section can find someone who can do a better job covering the dodgers.

 

[Rufino]

So says L.A. Observed, which is pretty reliable. It doesn't necessarily mean the paper will accept the offer.

I just hope this doesn't endanger Adande's role on Around the Horn!

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

I wonder if legally you can offer one age group buyouts and not another.

 

[jgmacg]

I wonder if legally you can offer one age group buyouts and not another.

I'm pretty sure you cannot. So what tends to happen in these things is that only the young, employable types offer themselves up for buyouts. The deadwood and the deeply entrenched mediocrities cling to their jobs for dear life, knowing they're unlikely to find another at the same pay rate. They may or may not be fired once the buyouts have come and gone. But by leaving many of the weakest employees in place, buyouts generally tend to have a further degrading effect on a struggling organization.

 

[Birdscribe]

That's an amazing list of talent jumping ship.

Moehringer is one of the best writers at that paper, an incredible wordsmith and former Pulitzer winner, as are Iritani and Cleeland in business (noted). Frammolino and Jenifer Warren are really solid reporters.

If all those people leave -- and I can't fathom how all would be allowed to -- the further deterioration of what used to be the best paper west of Washington D.C. will not only continue, but accelerate. Already, the Times' circulation is below 900,000, shocking for a paper that less than a decade ago was north of 1.1 million. :'(

 

[MileHigh]

That's an amazing list of talent jumping ship.

Moehringer is one of the best writers at that paper, an incredible wordsmith and former Pulitzer winner, as are Iritani and Cleeland in business (noted). Frammolino and Jenifer Warren are really solid reporters.

If all those people leave -- and I can't fathom how all would be allowed to -- the further deterioration of what used to be the best paper west of Washington D.C. will not only continue, but accelerate. Already, the Times' circulation is below 900,000, shocking for a paper that less than a decade ago was north of 1.1 million. :'(

I join you in that tear.

And the sports section once was called the World Champion with good cause.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

I am suddenly inspired to start either a "What are the best graduate schools?" or "How does one break onto PR?" thread.

The Times was such a wonderful paper when I was growing up. And its sports section was so full of information, with no stone unturned on local teams, or on national events and issues. Now it's being killed, not just by the changes in the business, but by out of town ownership who could give two ****s about the great city of Los Angeles.

Is the Chicago Tribune going through something similar?

 

[MileHigh]

The Times did a bit of nostalgia today when Jerry Crowe did a notes column in the mold of the late, great Alan Malamud.

 

[Editude]

Besides the buyout, word is that many Times staffers are considering an offer to shift to 4/5ths hours and pay.

 

[Hammer Pants]

Besides the buyout, word is that many Times staffers are considering an offer to shift to 4/5ths hours and pay.

That's better than a lot of us, who do 5/4ths hours for 4/5ths pay.

 

[mookieblaylock]

Rumor has it Adande may be heading to the Worldwide Leader. Not sure of all the details, but heard its mostly NBA. It may be similar to what they just did with Jeffri Chadiha, part TV, some writing on ESPN.com and just be all over the place.

 

[miamiheraldchick]

You have to figure that the chances of Adande going to ESPN are about 100 percent. If the LAT wanted to be cute, it would refuse the buyout, knowing he would leave anyway.

 

[Claws for Concern]

Didn't Adande come from an East Coast paper anyway (Baltimore?)

 

[fishwrapper]

Didn't Adande come from an East Coast paper anyway (Baltimore?)

Yeah. Little papers called the Washington Post and the Chicago Sun Times.

 

[Moland Spring]

Adande aside, since he appears to have a different deal with ESPN, but where do these people go after they accept the buyout... It's not like a lot of jobs are being created...

 

[sportsnut]

What on earth is happening to the beloved times. Now the only thing the city of LA needs is a tabloid like the NY Post.

I thought that the Times was going to finally go into the direction it needed to go to become a quality local newspaper. Instead they are wasting money to be a national newspaper.

 

[Gold]

My guess is they would accept the buyout from Adande now that this has become public knowledge. It would get rid of a big salary and get rid of somebody who wanted to leave. Not that I would blame Adande, because there are going to be new owners and that usually doesn't bode well for somebody who was promoted under a different regime - and make no mistake about it, this going to be a lot bigger change that when the Times was sold to the Tribune.

Maybe it's my blatant East Coast bias, but I never looked at the LA Times as all that. You are always going to have really good writers at any paper that size simply because somebody could get exposure and maybe move to bigger and better things at magazines or on television. When the Times was purchased by the Tribune, on the first day the LA Times tried to portray it as a merger, which it clearly wasn't and anybody who understood the first thing about any business could see that it wasn't a merger. Then there were the eight-page sports sections during the week. There was the fact that the LA Times never seemed to have tough coverage of the motion picture and entertainment business in LA. I have always said if you put the LA Times sports section in New York, it comes out no better than third.

 

[SF_Express]

I have always said if you put the LA Times sports section in New York, it comes out no better than third.

And you've always been wrong about that, but I admire your consistency. :)

I don't think regime change would affect Adande very much. No regime is going to be in a hurry to get rid of one of the few African-American sports columnists in the country.

Also, the L.A. Observed item doesn't put him in one of the questionable categories. It calls him a confirmed buyout.

I read right over Moehringer. I just got done reading The Tender Bar. Great book if you have any interest in bar culture and this business, or if you're from the New York/Long Island area (I'm in the first category).

That is indeed quite a list of talent heading out the door.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Adande probably wants the buyout because he'll be at ESPN before the check clears...