Behind the Scenes of the L.A. Times Buyout Drive

Veteran Los Angeles Times staffers looked at Page One today and believed the company had sent them a strong message, on this, the long-awaited day when buyouts were announced in the newsroom.

Encircling Page One, an all-enveloping American Airlines ad, which left room for three stories on the page, and showed a proud AA tail jutting upward. It was a plain message, say some long-time newsroom staffers, half tongue-in-cheek: It’s time to leave. (The Times was saved a major problem after an AA plane safely landed this morning after one of the pilots died en route; the potential juxtaposition of prominent airline ads and crashes is the stuff of many a publisher nightmare.)