The Day After 'Election Day Massacre' at 'L.A. Times'

By: E&P Staff Dean Baquet, who was ousted as Los Angeles Times editor and resigned on Tuesday, has picked up strong support from many in Los Angeles in and out of his newsroom. Some are calling the move "the Electon Day Massacre" -- and they don't mean the Democratic wins across the nation.

"It?s a loss, losing someone as talented as Dean," said David Fleming, past chairman of the Los Angeles Economic Development Commission. Fleming was one of the high-powered civic signers of a September letter that had urged the Tribune Co. to keep Baquet in place despite his oppositon to job cuts.

One staffer confronted Publisher David Hiller after the annoucement and demanded to know why a change had to be made -- since parent Tribune Co. is fielding bids fro a possible sale of the paper. When Hiller finished speaking to his staff, a faint hissing could be heard amid the light applause, writes James Rainey in the paper today.

"Reporters at the paper described a dramatic scene yesterday when Baquet called the newsroom together in the afternoon, climbed on a desk and told them he'd been fired," The Washington Post reports today. "Staffers applauded before and after Baquet spoke and some were in tears. ...

"Hiller addressed the room afterward, and, according to one staffer, drew some sneers by noting that yesterday's events had been hard on him, as well. Times reporters described the atmosphere at the paper as 'dismal,' 'rock bottom' and 'like a crypt.'

"But several of them downplayed rumors of a mass exodus from the paper. 'That really wouldn't serve any purpose,' one reporter said. 'People have tuition to pay, kids to feed, but they also still want the newspaper to improve.'"

An outside group has launched a protest campaign.

But Publisher Hiller met with Baquet's top deputies Tuesday and urged them to stay. At least one, managing editor Douglas Frantz, told colleagues in an e-mail he would not leave the paper. "So while I'm angry and heartbroken, I'm not quitting," Frantz wrote, according to The Associated Press. "And I'm asking all of you not to quit, not literally or figuratively."

Baquet will be replaced Monday by James O?Shea, managing editor of the Chicago Tribune. The L.A. Times notes that a friend of O'Shea had told him he was crazy to take this job, given the embattled atmosphere.

The New York Times reports today rumors that Baquet may meet with David Geffen, one of three top Californian businessmen who have expressed a desire to purchase the L.A. Times from Tribune.

Baquet has declined all comment.

"He told us he knows Jim and said that he?s a great guy and that he had a lot of respect for him," Times photographer Annie Wells said, according to the Associated Press. "That was very encouraging to hear because somehow we have got to get through this difficult period. We?re all afraid of what?s coming down from Tribune."

A consumer group launched a "Take Back Our Newspaper" campaign, urging readers to cancel their subscriptions unless the Times pledges not to make further cuts.

"It is especially egregious that Tribune?s action comes on election day, when L.A. Times journalists are working at top speed and for long hours to cover a critical national election," said Jamie Court, president of Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, according to AP.