Insiders Weigh in on Why John Carroll Quit

By: E&P Staff Industry insiders, fellow editors and reporters at other newspapers all weighed in today on the sudden resignation of John Carroll as editor of the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, and the naming of his managing editor, Dean Baquet, as his successor.

Certainly the most colorful quote came from Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times. Baquet once worked at the Times, then went to L.A. where he raided the paper for some top talent (although the Times also raided back).

Keller told the Washington Post that Baquet was "a world-class investigator, an inspiring editor and a barrel of fun," but added that he hoped he would start "fighting fair" in luring staffers: "He has this habit of telling recruits there's something in the New York water that makes your penis fall off."

Here are a few of the views, as carried by leading news outlets.

USA Today

"Carroll's departure, says former Los Angeles Times reporter Tom Rosenstiel, should alarm an industry on the cusp of evolutionary change.

"At a time when newspapers need to make a major long-term transition into the new kind of online journalism, companies are driving off the old-school editors. They burn out because they spend all their time on budgets, not journalism," says Rosenstiel, who heads Columbia University's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The New York Times

"This spring, Mr. Carroll and Mr. Baquet, 48, went through a particularly grueling round of budget negotiations with corporate executives. News executives close to Mr. Carroll said that he and Mr. Baquet had proposed a budget plan that involved some newsroom cuts that the two could live with but were not as deep as Chicago wanted. Tribune rejected the plan, these executives said.

"Gary Weitman, a spokesman for Tribune in Chicago, declined to discuss details of the budget negotiations. 'I won't comment on speculation you're hearing about how our budgets are formulated,' he said, adding that 'opportunities to become more efficient were discussed.'

"Mr. Carroll's friends said that accepting severe cuts in the newsroom would have undermined everything he had achieved ...

"Mr. Carroll and Mr. Baquet had told associates over the last few months that they were willing to leave together if they could not ease Chicago's demands for newsroom cuts. By agreeing to stay, Mr. Baquet, who helped win a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 as a reporter for The Chicago Tribune, spared the company the embarrassment of having its two top editors quit at once.

"Mr. Baquet went into marathon negotiations with Tribune in late June over his future. Another Los Angeles editor said that Mr. Baquet also talked with other newspapers about executive positions."

The Washington Post

"Kit Rachlis, editor of Los Angeles magazine, who called Carroll's departure 'a real blow,' said: 'The real question is what Tribune is going to do with the Times. Are they going to impose more cuts? Are they going to bundle bureaus together, especially in Washington? Close down foreign bureaus?'"

L.A. Weekly (Nikki Finke)

"In the immediate aftermath of Carroll's exit, bets are being placed on how long Michael Kinsley, who's been the editorial and opinion editor for 15 months, will last now that he reports directly to (Publisher) Johnson, and not to the LAT's editor.

"Yes, that very big news was snuck in under the radar as part of the leadership transition, the paper explained. Kinsley's tenure so far has been marked primarily by self-serving publicity and controversy, all designed to focus attention on himself instead of on issues. ... Now Kinsley's perch looks precarious. After all, Carroll was Kinsley's hirer, protector and defender, and Kinsley's previous employers, Slate and The New Republic, did not prepare him for a workplace where corporate meddling is the rule, not the exception."