Chicago to LA Times: drop dead

Posted Nov 7th 2006 7:25PM by Julie Tilsner
Filed under: Other Issues, Bad News, Industry, Consumer Experience, Tribune Co. (TRB)

la times I just heard that Dean Baquet, the editor of the Los Angeles Times, has been pushed out by his Chicago-based overlords because he refused to oversee any more staff cuts.

Well, all of us members of the Fourth Estate, past and present, saw this coming. It's just another ill tiding for the newspaper industry.

The Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), owners of the Chicago Tribune (and lots of other media outlets), own the Los Angeles Times. It's been relentless in its pursuit of profits, slashing staff and other resources. It's slowly starving its brand by trying to wring every last penny of profit out of its business. And when was the newspaper business ever a money-making operation?

Yes, the newspaper industry is dying. Yes, more people get their news now from the Internet or TV. Yes, advertising revenue has tanked, again thanks to the Internet. I'll even hazard to say there won't be newspapers as we know them in 20 years time. But it ain't dead yet. There are still millions of people who get a newspaper every day, for whatever reason. And those people want a good product. The Los Angeles Times was a good product. A great brand.

I'm a second generation Los Angeleno. My parents got both the Times and the long-gone but oft-lamented Herald Examiner. I continue to get the Times even though I spend most of my time behind a computer screen. Why? I like something to read with my coffee. I love the feel of it; the in-depth reporting from far-flung places; the letters to the editor; the Food Section.

My daughter, 10, reads the Kids' Corner section every single morning as she eats her cereal. She looks forward to it. This is a girl who will be getting her news via iPod when she's 17.

But I dunno, guys. With Dean Baquet forced out, I don't know if I can support the paper with my subscription fees anymore. After all, I can read the whole thing for free online. At the end of the day, I see you're more concerned about your shareholders than your customers. That's a problem.

The last newspaper reader of her generation is about to get her subscription canceled. Good move, guys. Keep up the great work.

[Photo Lizbeth]

Tags: baquet, chicago tribune, ChicagoTribune, dean, dean baquet, DeanBaquet, editor, la times, LaTimes, los angeles times, LosAngelesTimes, newspaper, newspaper industry, NewspaperIndustry, the tribune company, TheTribuneCompany, times, trb, tribune

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-07-2006 @ 8:49PM

Kash Brouillet said...

I must completely agree with Ms. Tilsner. I have read the Los Angeles Times for the last 15 years. (Since the Herald Examiner went away) I look forward to having my coffee and the L.A. times and seem to have trouble getting to work on time if it's late as I can't get by without reading it. Although I do find that the Monday issue is rather skimpy on news. Did nothing happen around the world over the weekend? Why would the owners (Tribune) feel that the paper needed to make so much more money? As anyone that reads the Times can see, it is more advertising than news on any given day as it is. And what the Chandlers must be thinking of the hard earned and well respected paper they once knew is anyones guess.

11-07-2006 @ 11:05PM

Amey Stone said...

I share many of Julie's sentiments, but have to warn against cancelling your newspaper subscription. It's jut not the same getting it online. I cancelled the New York Times weekday edition (couldn't part with Sunday) and find this election day that I'm hopelessly uninformed about local politics. I now see getting the paper in hand, browsing at least the headlines of all the sections kept me much better informed than checking out the site online each day.

11-08-2006 @ 12:46AM

Katie Petrick said...

"And when was the newspaper business ever a moneymaking operation?"
This has to be one of the dumbest questions ever! When wasn't it? Do you think they do all this newspaper stuff because they don't have anything else to do? You maximize your people to their fullest, that's what you pay them to do, work to their fullest. Oh, I'll hire 3 people and provide a good wage, give them ins. and other benefits when I only really need one really good worker. Are you deft? I applaud the Tribune. Get rid of the dead weight and maybe the other workers will step up their performance if they want to keep their job. Oh I forgot, It's laid back in LA, we don't want to work so long and hard. Then you deserve to be laid off. Don't let the door hit you in the a**.

11-08-2006 @ 1:23AM

Gary E. Sattler said...

Here's something else to think about. At the local levels there are many pieces of information which can or MUST be published for public inspection. I know that here in Wisconsin the announcement of every public meeting must be published for a prescribed time before the event. Court notices, obituaries, school events, senior lunch menus, and a host of other bits of valuable information would be lost to the masses on the internet if newspapers fade away.

I do think the newspaper industry is going to change, in some ways very drastically but I don't think it's going to die. I'll be watching for smaller "focus" publications to sprout up and start growing in the cracks of what used to be that pavement which was called the media of the masses.

11-19-2006 @ 11:27AM

John Blunden said...

It's very sad about the decreasing popularity of newspapers. I personally prefer getting my news
from newspapers. But because I can get it free online, I am ashamed to admit I have neglected my morning routine reading my paper over breakfast. Also, it's more convenient online. I get the most recent updates quick and I get to see videos too. But I hope we don't end up not having newspapers anymore.