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I hope they don't get rid of sports columnist Bernie Lincicome. He is one of the best columnists I've ever read, really knows how to put words together.

At every turn, it seems like the LA Times was working on purpose to reduce their revenues and their reach. When a local section was pulling down more revenue per page than the sports section, the word came down from upon high that local sales reps were to knock off the 'abuse' of the advertising sections.

Local ads were put elsewhere in the paper to reflect the 'general advertising policies' and revenues fell through the floor. Without revenues, the local office couldn't be justified and was cut.

Innovative profiling of web readership to help determine placements of articles - more popular columnists and article subjects were to be moved to more accessible areas of the newspaper were wiped off the map when it didn't match management's vision of how the paper should be layed out, and virtually abandoned all together.

Linkage of advertising to article content was reduced to simply 'sectional' in choice.

Writers were encouraged to make articles more 'personal to the average reader' with the profile not provided by the average reader but instead by management. Locally generated content was consistently challenged to be 'of national viewpoints and relevance.'

As much as I dislike the viewpoints of management on political issues, the simple reality is that the Tribune Co. has destroyed popular newspapers in virtually every market they are in. Whereas a lot of other 'local' newspapers were secondary subscriptions to a lot of readers, the 'flagship' of the region was instead dumped. Whereas local newspapers continued with mostly tried and true newspaper dogma in following what the readers want, management continued to determine what the readers should have.

Add on top of this incredible investments in overseas offices that provided little more illumination on events than what could be found on CNN, and sometimes even less, a thirst for industry accolades, and a drifting away from the business community that paid the bills, and I'm shocked some days that they're still in business at all, rather than simply reducing staff.

If I wanted to make a business model to demonstrate how not to do everything, I'd put them down not only as a reference, but as a slipstream model demonstrating why that model is so bad.

Believe me. If he's that good and with the internet his occupation is secure. Only because the White Sox won it this year. Just kiddin...lol...

You ever read Scot Ostler of the DF Chron?

Man, he is good!

Ed