Jun 22, 2010

LA Times suspends pressman blogger

Los Angeles Times pressman Ed Padgett says his bosses suspended him for blogging about last Thursday's production problems that led to delivery problems Friday morning.

Padgett, who posts at the Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club, said the suspension could lead to termination, pending the outcome of an internal investigation:
I was told I had been warned in the past regarding my blogging, but I was only warned about broadcasting circulation numbers and nothing else. 

So much for first amendment rights.
Padgett posts included the news that the Times had to restart its Orange County printing presses after having shuttered the facility days before and the rising temperatures inside the Olympic plant. (The warning he refers to came last June when he reported that the paper's circulation had fallen below one million.)

Padgett also called for unspecified changes at Times in response to the production problems, which might be the post that got him into hot water. Here's part of what he said:
I’m not certain how many subscribers have fled the Los Angeles Times over the fiasco yesterday, but the numbers will be revealed to the pressmen shortly as the amount of newspapers produced daily will most definitely decline deeply. ...


The public relations damage at the Los Angeles Times was great, with thousand’s of dollars in rebates to the advertisers for newspapers not delivered to our readers. We have a few anchors here at the LA Times that need to be jettisoned overboard, and quickly.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

My goodness, maybe they should have him jailed and flogged for his actions.

Anonymous said...

So they suspend a guy for blogging, yet do nothing about the errors by the reporters?

never seen so many corrections in one newspapers.

Anonymous said...

the only thing that needs corrected are the twits running the organization.

Anonymous said...

Interesting that a corporation that exists and depends on and lives by and relies on the rights guaranteed by the first amendment can punish someone for his comments on whatever he wants to comment on. His first admendment rights have been violated and the Tribune should own up and back off and apologize and kiss his ......

Anonymous said...

Sounds like "half pint" still has his Napoleon complex... I wonder how much longer the titanic will stay afloat?

Anonymous said...

The poor Times, I need to bring out my kleenex to dab my eyes for the. Getting beat up by a pressman blogger is tragic. Hope you can keep the organization afloat during the crisis.

Anonymous said...

can you imagine what they'd do to david shaw?

Anonymous said...

Wonder what Sam Zell's opinion is of the pressman blogger?

Lou Nicosia said...

Here is a guy who loves his job and the company he has worked for for nearly 40 years. He is witnessing the inept management of the Tribune company and reports what he sees. He sees his company suffering because of the decisons these BOZOs make. Thats what I read into his reports. As an ex-Tribune employee I can vouch for him.Hope this doesnt compromise his ideals he does a great job.

Anonymous said...

Tribune is a free press when the truth is told how they see it, not some other point of view. What makes a company grow, attract and keep talent, as well as becoming more competitive is listening to opinions that may be different than one point of view. Sadly, this group doesn't subscribe to that theory.

By the way, who is not running the Titanic advertising dept? Seems to be lacking in skills.