The Los Angeles Times announced Tuesday it would cut at least 115 jobs, or more than 20% of its 500-person newsroom, one of the largest layoffs in the paper's 142-year history.
The layoffs come at a precarious time for the publisher, which is facing another year of heavy losses, as well as allegations of editorial interference from billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong. The company is currently looking for a new editor-in-chief following Kevin Merida's resignation earlier this month. problem, According to reports.
On Tuesday, Soon-Shiong said in an interview that the cuts were “necessary.” LA Timesthe paper noted that it “can no longer afford to lose $30 million to $40 million annually without progress toward building a larger readership that will bring in advertising and subscriptions to sustain the organization.”
The health giant added that fundamental changes were needed, including bringing in new leadership focused on strengthening its journalism to make it an “essential” newspaper for more readers.
“Today’s decisions are painful for everyone, but it is imperative that we act quickly and take steps to build a sustainable and thriving newspaper for generations to come. We are committed to doing so. We are working on it,” Soon-Shiong said.
Matt Pearce, president of Media Guild West, which represents the LA Times' staff, said about 94 of the 115 job cuts will be unionized employees.
“While this total is devastating, it is much lower than the total number of guild layoffs originally expected last week.” Pearce posted on X There was once news of layoffs.
In an interview with the LA Times, Soon-Shiong expressed “disappointment” that the guild opted for a one-day strike last Friday, which he said was “unhelpful.” Instead, the union should have worked with management to devise a plan that could “save jobs”, Soon-Shiong said.
The guild did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but at the time of the strike, the union was demanding that management make targeted job cuts and pay cuts. The union also called for acquisitions to be included in the total number of job cuts.
In addition, we will take ownership by holding an all-hands meeting to “clarify a clear roadmap for not only reducing costs but also increasing profits,'' and establishing a research and selection committee that will include representatives from the guild of the next editor-in-chief. I asked for it.
Mr. Soon-Shiong has expressed dissatisfaction with previous leadership and efforts to create the Los Angeles Times Studio, a production arm that would bring the paper's journalism to a wider audience through documentaries and podcasts.
The owner said Merida and several other recently retired senior editors were not doing their jobs.
Merida said he resigned from the media after disagreements with Soon-Shiong over his role as editor-in-chief, strategy, and the scale of layoffs.
“It is truly difficult to reflect on the recent turbulent years, during which our business faced significant challenges, including losses in excess of $100 million in operating and capital expenses.” Soon-Shiong told the LA Times:.
“Despite these challenges, we have made the conscious decision not to implement any layoffs within our newsroom during the coronavirus pandemic and, despite the losses, we have continued to deliver on news over the past few months. We maintained staffing levels in the editing room,” he added.
The owners said they have invested about $1 billion in the paper since purchasing it from Tribune Co., then known as Tronc, for $500 million in 2018.
“We're not in chaos. We have a real plan,” he said.
