Posted on 05/25/2007 1:53:27 PM PDT by abb
NEW YORK Jobs cuts at the Los Angeles Times continue. A memo from Editor Jim O'Shea late Thursday revealed that 57 newsroom staffers will be exiting, mainly voluntarily but some via layoffs.
"Today the Los Angeles Times completed a voluntary and involuntary employee separation program," O'Shea wrote. "The vast majority of people leaving the newspaper will depart voluntarily over the next few weeks. The total also included a very small number of involuntary departures. Everyone who will be leaving has been notified. All will receive a generous separation package that includes salary continuation and outplacement assistance. ...
"We must move on and convert our staff into a vibrant multi-media organization that breaks news on the web and explains and analyzes it in our newspaper. These moves are well under way and will bring us success."
The memo was first publisher at the LA.observed blog.
The remainder of the memo follows.
***
In the editorial department, 57 members of the staff will be leaving the paper, not including a few editorial assistants whose positions are being converted to part time jobs in reorganization. We will replace a significant number of people, though, to offset the decline. We are also examining our polling operation to determine if reorganization could increase revenues while achieving further savings. We expect to complete this examination in the next couple of months.
Some highly talented people are leaving the staff and I hate to see them go. No one enjoys going through something like this, least of all me. This is a time of wrenching change at our paper and in our industry. I wish those leaving all the best. I pledge to do anything I can to help them with their futures.
Now it is time to move forward and meet the huge challenges ahead. Even after this reduction, we have a strong, large and talented staff eager to tackle the industry-wide problems that have made staff adjustments an unfortunate reality in nearly every paper in the nation.
We must move on and convert our staff into a vibrant multi-media organization that breaks news on the web and explains and analyzes it in our newspaper. These moves are well underway and will bring us success. I refuse to believe the headlines that the future of news organizations is bleak. We face a dim future only if we refuse to change and do something about it.
Hundreds of committed, excellent journalists remain on our staff, producing stellar news and cultural coverage. The Los Angeles Times will remain a full-service newspaper providing the best and most sophisticated coverage of the city, the region, the state, the nation and the world.
I will be meeting with individual departments over the coming weeks to answer questions and solicit ideas about how we can make the Los Angeles Times and latimes.com an even better operation. We must show the world that, as our circulation stabilizes, we are growing rapidly on-line and our overall readership is rising, despite the industry's problems. I truly believe the news and headlines will get better in the coming weeks and months.
Creativity, flexibility, innovation, great storytelling and smart editing will mark the road to our future. We are journalists and we must sustain and grow our ability to explain Southern California and the world beyond to the people living in this dynamic and vast region. Great journalism in print and on-line will continue to be our legacy. We must seize the future; it is within our grasp.
I look forward to working with all of you to secure a great future.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E&P Staff
Links referenced within this article
Find this article at: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003590597
Ping
P.C. to the very end.
"Fired" is the word. Why won't they just speak English like normal people?
Great start to a holiday weekend.
Maybe if they supported the United States instead of attacking her at every turn.
Maybe if they weren’t anti Israel and pro any turd outfit out there.
Maybe if they didn’t support the homosexual agenda at every turn.
Oh well they aren’t and I hope it isn’t a slow death, I hope the rag folds and soon.
This is like watching airbus going under.I love a happy ending, dont you?
Yes, very good news to start the Memorial Day weekend. Die msm die.
Also love the “very small number” of “involuntary separations.”
I don’t reckon it’s very small if you’re one of the involunteers!!!
bump
bummer...if FReepers had been more active, it could have been 157. We must redouble our efforts.
"..we have a large vibrant staff..."
"....hundreds of committed, excellent journalists..."
IOW.... a target rich environment...
BTW...whenever the guy writing the memo uses the word "vibrant"....well
I can’t understand why the LA Times isn’t sold to one of those LA billionaires with more money than brains. Let them have the stinkin’ paper and run it until it completely crashes. They couldn’t care less about a multi-million dollar loss. Just another write off to them.
Shouldn’t there be a huge tax subsidy to keep such a valuable asset as the LA Times afloat? -(/lib think)
To the owners of LA Times: 2 words...toilet paper.
it’s more profitable...
As John Levin in the movie Disclosure says
28 years with IBM. Did I ever tell you what they told me? ... I was "surplussed." You ever hear that word? ... If they wanted a euphemism they should've said, "sodomized."
ITYM feel as in lib feel. Allow me to offer up yet another lib touchy-feely solution.
NEWSPAPERS NEED A NEW KIND OF OWNER: READERS... One solution would be to find a large number of affluent people who really care about upholding the highest standards in journalism. In fact, they are not hard to find. They are: THE READERS.
The existing subscriber base of both newspapers is a precious asset, one that is not realizing its full potential. The owners of both papers should take a cue from public broadcasting and launch a “pledge drive” the likes of which no one has ever seen. Instead of just sending money, the subscribers could be enlisted to buy stock. ...
... Of course, it could be objected that a lot of Times readers cannot afford to devote $2,000 to the cause. Fine. But the demographics of the Times audience would also suggest that there are plenty of Times readers who could afford quite a bit more, and I am sure that there is a minority of the readers who could buy plenty more shares. ...
I feel a satisfied smile creeping across my face.
I saw that one, Milhous. I almost posted on his blog that I would be in line to invest - right behind him. Nearly all do-gooders want to to do the do-gooding with someone else’s money.
LA Times = No Loss.
That’s a funny solution. “Buy stock in us — we’re bleeding cash and our industry is going obsolete. But we want to write some more for a while, so please send us a check. Thanks”
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