'L.A.Times' Staffers Circulate Petition Backing Pair

By: Joe Strupp A petition supporting Los Angeles Times Editor Dean Baquet and Publisher Jeff Johnson for their stand against potential cuts by the Tribune Company began circulating Tuesday, according to newsroom staffers. Hundreds had signed the document that was to be sent to the corporate headquarters in Chicago before Thursday?s planned board meeting.

?The staff in general applauds the stand that these men have taken,? said Ted Rohrlich, a 25-year Times reporter and one of the signers. ?I would hate to see these gentlemen lose their jobs by standing up for integrity of the paper.?

The petition, according to staffers, reads as follows:

?We the undersigned staff members of the Los Angeles Times want to state our support and appreciation for the stand our publisher, Jeff Johnson, and editor, Dean Baquet, have taken on behalf of quality journalism in the newspaper we love.

"We hope their message resonates beyond this newsroom and inspires many more to recognize the vital role that a robust newspaper plays in our individual communities and our society as a whole. While more doesn?t always equal better, we are concerned that further budget cuts will only serve to harm the integrity of an institution that many of us have labored to build over a number of years, as well as the quality of the product we help to deliver daily. We seek to up hold a tradition of excellence and here reiterate our commitment to preserve this newspaper?s unique place in the greater Los Angeles area, California, and beyond.?

Several Times employees who spoke to E&P were fearful that Baquet and Johnson may be in jeopardy of losing their jobs after their comments last week against likely cutbacks. Others said the mood at the paper was dismal as concerns about even further cutbacks grew, with many saying the paper would lose a valuable part of its resources if more people are lost.

?We're somewhere between much ado about nothing and freaking out,? said Jim Newton, a Times bureau chief and 22-year employee. ?People are looking toward this meeting in Chicago with some apprehension.?

?People are worried,? said one editor who requested anonymity. ?Everything is possible at this point, it is a very volatile situation.?

The concerns come a week after Baquet and Johnson were quoted in a Times story criticizing recent talk of further cuts during a meeting with Tribune officials. "I am not averse to making cuts," Baquet said in the story. "But you can go too far, and I don't plan to do that. I just have a difference of opinion with the owners of Tribune about what the size of the staff should be. To make substantial reductions would significantly damage the quality of the paper." Added Johnson, "newspapers can't cut their way into the future. We have to carefully balance economic realities with serving our readers."

Since then, speculation has risen that Tribune officials may implement the cuts anyway, or possibly removed Baquet or Johnson. As Thursday? board meeting looms, the speculation has sparked talk of everything from a sale of the paper to Baquet?s resignation.

Frank Clifford, an editor, said the worry is more than the usual budget-time anxiety. ?There is a feeling that this one could be graver,? he said of the possible financial cutbacks. ?People are working numbly through it.?

Rohrlich said many staffers believe Tribune is just trying to make a short-term profit at the expense of long-term credibility. ?We are all really concerned about maintaining the integrity of the institution,? he said, adding that Tribune is ?cannibalizing its newspaper.?