Layoffs at the LA Times

The pink slips were expected, but that doesn't make them any more welcome.

LA Observed reports that columnist Tim Rutten, environmental writer Margot Roosevelt and NBA writer Mark Heisler are among the staffers laid off by the Times. About a dozen newsroom layoffs are expected and poor ad revenues are said to be to blame.

Dupuy to depart FishbowlLA

Tina Dupuy is leaving FishbowlLA to work at Crooks and Liars, a blog I'll add to my blog roll. Next stop, Gawker?

LA Times cutbacks, papers for sale, and other speculation

I'm told a memo was circulated this weekend among Los Angeles Times staffers asking for volunteers to take buyouts as a way to lessen or avoid layoffs at the paper.

The Chicago Tribune, the Times's sister paper, laid off 20 people on Friday, "many of them" from the newsroom, WBEZ reported.

Times employees are in a state of anxiety, as LA Observed pointed out last week, as rumors of layoffs swirl amid continued efforts by owner Tribune Co. to crawl out of bankruptcy. Investors are impatient and layoffs are a quick way to improve the financial picture in the short term.

So, is this about boosting profits and satisfying debt holders? Or should we believe the Wall Street Journal's speculation that the Times could be being readied for sale - with a smaller payroll making for a more attractive sales price?

And since we're speculating... Could the Tribune be raising cash as a way to up its bid for the Orange County Register? The Register's publisher announced Friday that he'll at the end of September, which would indicate a deal is in the works. MediaNews Group had emerged as the top bidder for the paper, but negotiations broke down last month. This was followed by a flurry of layoffs in MediaNews's Southern California newspapers - a sign the chain is looking to up its ante.

Layoffs atop Reuters

Thomson Reuters has fired the business chief of its news division along with four other top executives, reports The Wrap. The move is part of a three-year rolling reorganization aimed at catching Bloomberg and Dow Jones. From my vantage point, Reuters has hired good writers and reporters but remains hard to find.

The Wrap has a vested interest in this news, as the entertainment and media website partnered with Reuters America last year (not mentioned in the breaking news update above).

*Meantime, Gannett is hiring executives.

Blog-splanation

Yes, I'm still here. Yes, the blog is still active.

For the last several weeks, I've been helping KCRW as it goes through a restructuring. It's been time consuming (in a good way) but has robbed all of you of my semi-wisdom/opportunities to say terrible things about newspaper layoffs. 

As soon as matters at work settle down, the updates will once again flow. 

Sorry.

Four Wednesday

1. Platinum Equity is exploring a possible sale, er divestiture, of the San Diego Union-Tribune. UT

2. The Associated Press releases new social media guidelines. AP (via Romenesko)

3. Simon Dumenco says punishment of Huffington Post writer for "over-aggregating" copy obscures the fact that over-aggregation of copy is a central Huffington Post strategy. Ad Age

4. Feeling claustrophobic about this weekend's Carmageddon carpocalypse? JetBlue had a solution - for $4, the Car-mageddon fly-over would have taken you from Long Beach to Burbank, or vice versa, allowing you to avoid all ground congestion. The trip would have taken 45 minutes, not counting security checks, but the flights are sold out anyway. JetBlue

Rupert Murdoch has a way with news

Carl Bernstein, investigative reporter of Watergate fame, and Roger Cohen of the New York Times debate the media legacy of Rupert Murdoch in the wake of the News of the World implosion. Bernstein begins ...
 Has Rupert Murdoch changed the news of the world? by KCRW

News of the World scandal leads to new arrests

British police today arrested the former spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron in the ever-worsening scandal over phone hacking at News of the World. The family of Rupert Murdoch has already vowed to shutter the 168-year-old tabloid on Sunday.

Sun newsroom says 'no' to union

I'm told newsroom employees at the San Bernardino Sun have rejected an effort to form a union at the MediaNews Group-owned newspaper. The vote was 12 to 2 against.

When the union election was set, 17 people were eligible to cast ballots. I'm told two people have since left and one ballot was challenged - an action that won't change the outcome.

Layoffs and leavings at the Daily News

The Los Angeles Daily News newsroom got a little smaller this week. Online content producer Cliff Redding and web producer/designer Tom Gapen received layoff notices. A third person, from circulation, also got a pink slip. The latter layoff was mentioned last week.

Additionally, the city editor of the Los Angeles Daily News, John Miller, is leaving the paper to teach high school English in Kuwait, according to a memo obtained by LA Observed.

(Corrections: Original post had Mr. Redding's and Mr. Gapen's titles wrong.)

Martin Weinberger, long-time Courier publisher, has died*

Martin Weinberger, long-time owner and publisher of the Claremont Courier, died early today after a period of failing health. He was 82.

Weinberger was a patron of local journalism - a last bastion of quality in a sea of chains and community-based fluff. He put real stories on the page for decades (though his affinity was photography). The mere fact that he survived the newspaper bloodbath is testimony to what he'd built. Courier alumni include Los Angeles Times reporter David Zahniser and Times photographers Genaro Molina and George Rose (Rose is no longer at the Times).

I worked for Martin as a reporter and editor between 1997 and 2002. He was of another age: He was still pasting up the paper the year I left. When he recited the axioms of our newsroom heroes, he got the words right and meant what he said. Claremont City Hall never truly understood him and it never ignored him. He will be missed by those who knew him, and by a world that's leaving his hard-earned wisdom behind.

*Update: From the Courier's Facebook page:

The COURIER staff is sad to report that owner Martin Weinberger died July 5th at 12:20 a.m. Mr. Weinberger bought the COURIER in 1955 and remained at the helm until his retirement in 2008. He is survived by his wife, Janis; his son, Peter, the current publisher; his daughter-in-law, Betsy; and his grandchildren, Matthew and Collette. Service arrangements are pending.