'LA Times' Looks to Cut 85 Newsroom Jobs

By: E&P Staff The Los Angeles Times is reducing its staff for the second straight year. Editor Dean Baquet announced today that the paper will look to cut as many as 85 newsroom jobs by the end of the year. Employees have until Nov. 25 to accept the paper's buyout package. After that, the paper will move to layoffs.

In letters to staff, Baquet and Publisher Jeff Johnson cited rising costs and shrinking revenues as reasons for the cuts. In the latest FAS-FAX report, the Times was down 3.72% to 843,432 in daily paid circulation. On average, daily paid circulation was down 2.6% for the U.S. newspapers that reported to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

"Despite these cuts, nothing will keep us from chasing the biggest stories," Baquet wrote. "And we simply can't lose sight of our ambitions to compete as one of the country's great newspapers."

Earlier today, the publisher of another Tribune-owned paper, the Orlando Sentinel, announced that the paper would likely cut "a limited number of positions." Last week, the Tribune's Sun in Baltimore announced that it would cut 75 jobs through a combination of buyouts and layoffs.

Baquet's memo is below, followed by Johnson's announcement.

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To: the Editorial Staff
From: Dean Baquet

I very much regret to announce that The Times will have to lose about 85 newsroom jobs before the end of the year. A few of the cuts have already been made through attrition. Some will come through a voluntary separation program. But others, unfortunately, will come through layoffs. The exact breakdown won't be known until we see how many people apply for the voluntary separation package.

You all know that this is a rough year for newspapers. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have also announced significant cuts in staff or expenses. Other Tribune newspapers are making similar reductions in response to rising newsprint costs and concerns over a continuing decline in revenue.

Still, this is our second straight year of staff reductions, and this is a painful announcement to make. It is one I've worked hard to avoid.

I'm aware that the newsroom has been anxiously waiting some announcement, and that this has created much distress. But it doesn't show in our paper. I can't tell you how grateful I am for the tremendous work every department has done throughout an uncertain time.

Just as I'm not forgetting what you have accomplished in the past few months, neither should you. The Katrina coverage matched the epic nature of the story. The foreign staff and the Washington bureau have continued their compelling coverage of the war and its domestic repercussions. Steve Lopez and the metro investigative unit have changed laws and institutions. The paper has produced hard-hitting exclusives on the problems at the ty, and the liver transplant program at UC Irvine. Features continues to provide cutting edge coverage of culture and the arts.

We just published another great local investigative series, the conservators project. Other major projects are about to land, from almost every department of the paper. We've finished a major redesign of the magazine, and we're rebuilding the Orange County operation. In essence, we are making big bets on the future even as we are being forced to cut.

Due to financial pressures, we are on a very short timeframe, and people will only have until 5 p.m. Nov. 25 to apply for a separation package. After that, we will decide which positions must be eliminated through layoffs.

Information about the separation program will be available online later today. Susan Denley is organizing some meetings for editorial staff members to answer questions about the separation program over the next few days. She and Senior Manager Oracio Galindo of the Human Resources Department will try to help in any way they can. Susan will follow up later today with a note laying out more details.

Despite these cuts, nothing will keep us from chasing the biggest stories. And we simply can't lose sight of our ambitions to compete as one of the country's great newspapers. We have the second largest newsgathering staff in the country--and the best. Working with Jeff, we will handle these staff reductions as humanely as possible, and with an eye toward avoiding cuts that hamper our core mission of providing powerful stories and photography.

The Times is the most resilient newspaper in the country. It is one of the reasons we love it. We're in for a few difficult weeks, but we will get through this.

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To: Times Employees
From: Jeff Johnson

As an organization, we have seen much change in the past 10 months, including many new people joining the organization as well as veterans of The Times taking on new responsibilities. We have also accomplished much this past year in a media environment that continues to change at a fast pace creating both new opportunities and challenges.

One of our biggest challenges is to make meaningful investments in our future while making very difficult decisions about the size and shape of our organization. It is more critical than ever that we take decisive action to reflect changes in our business and make tough calls about staffing levels and other critical parts of the newspaper.

Beginning this week and over the next three weeks, departments will be communicating specific initiatives including job reductions to their employees. These are not easy decisions and we are not taking them lightly. However, given the current business climate, we feel these reductions are absolutely essential to succeed in 2006 and beyond.

Now more than ever, we continue to be committed to The Times' mission of being the definitive voice in Southern California. Our readers and advertisers expect that we cover their world in a way no other media company can both in print and online. Important strategies next year include:

* A renewed focus on deepening the paper's connection with readers and advertisers in Southern California.

* Investing heavily in our online business to become an indispensable destination in the lives of Southern Californians.

* Growing our developing businesses to reach new audiences and provide new solutions for advertisers.

Specific initiatives underway include stepping up coverage on local and regional news, a relentless drive on building home delivery and single copy sales, as well as continued investment in latimes.com. The recent series by Steve Lopez on the homeless situation along with key coverage by the metro investigative staff demonstrate so well the great work done by The Times in serving Southern California.

Next year will include a series of initiatives including a remake of the Los Angeles Times Magazine, new design features to make the paper more inviting and an aggressive set of changes on the web led by the recent introduction of "The Envelope." Importantly, the advertising team is focused on several ambitious programs to grow local retail, preprint and classified advertising where we are planning major investments.

As we move forward we will work hard to keep you engaged and informed about important initiatives here at The Times. With your talent and passion for The Times, I am confident that we will be stronger and more valuable to our readers and advertisers than ever before. I deeply appreciate your contributions and continued support.