Editor addresses recent cuts in staff and pages

Editor Russ Stanton's memo to the newsroom:

Colleagues,

A few weeks ago, we announced that we would be losing 150 of our newsroom colleagues and reducing the number of pages we printed by 15%. The announced layoffs are now concluded, and we are losing fewer colleagues (135) and fewer pages (14%) than initially forecast. The process has been painful, and we've had to say goodbye to too many good friends and co-workers.

Our challenge now is to focus on the tasks at hand -- to break stories online and in the paper and continue putting resources toward the in-depth investigative reports that we're known for. This week, we have magnificent examples of both:

Within hours, more than 300,000 readers turned to us for information about the quake. And the excellent Wildfire series is a great reminder of what we're capable of -- wonderful storytelling, brilliant documentary photography, video and graphics, and dazzling design, in print and online.

In addition to the Olympics and the political conventions, in the coming weeks we'll be delivering a terrific series of projects on the drug war on the California-Mexico border, a look at wealth in Southern California, the region's broken healthcare system, the issue of race in the presidential campaign and corruption in China. And today, senior print and Web editors met to start planning the integration of the two newsrooms, a move we hope to complete by the end of September. Your exemplary work shows why the Los Angeles Times remains a vibrant and integral part of both Southern California and the nation. By doing what we do best -- providing our readers with first-rate news, analysis and features -- we will ensure that they have access to the information they have come to expect from us.

Even at our smaller size, we are running at least 10% more pages than the New York Times and at least 25% more than the Wall Street Journal, two outstanding papers. In addition to the Wildfire series and the biggest local report anywhere in the country, this week we've also brought you news and features from China, Cuba, El Salvador, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Macao, Mexico, Pakistan, Serbia, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and, yes, even Olathe, Kan. And it's only Wednesday. Only two other daily papers in America even attempt this kind of reporting any more, and neither is within 2,500 miles of here.

While we may be fewer in number, we must not be diminished in spirit or sense of purpose. In the coming weeks, the senior editing team and I will be meeting with you in small groups to talk about how we move forward. It is your passion and your commitment to this news organization and to one another that will keep us moving in the right direction. The Los Angeles Times and our readers deserve nothing less.

Comments

[Bonnie Lee]

Very interesting. Sounds like you sure are tootin' your own horn. You still laid off 135 people. Ouch.

[calwatch]

I wonder if the LA Times is comparing their page count with the National Edition of the NY Times (the dead tree version you can buy in LA) or the New York Metro edition. Because looking at the page count on the sections in "print edition" on the web site (I don't subscribe to the Electronic Edition so I don't know), the NY Times produces more than those 6 page Sports and Business "sections", and although the Arts section appears skinnier, that may be because of features and ad placement.

The other thing is that the NY Times has a decent local coverage desk. The LA Times local coverage is, and has always been, abysmal. The national and international reporting is supposed to make up for it, but citing a bunch of datelines is meaningless. Many of the stories are pedestrian and could be done with wire copy. Column One, once the home for great feature reporting, is shorter than it ever was, and many of the items are just teases for blog material, which few people read. I'll be blunt and say that a lot of the LA Times reporters in Serbia, Denver, and Olathe should go home and beef up the local news section. Remember that there are at least three million people that the Singleton papers don't even pretend to serve, and out of the millions of LA County residents that they do serve, they do a horrible job of providing context and doing anything more than police blotter/city council agenda stories. Make local news better, because that is cheaper than maintaining NYTimes level international journalism.

[eileen]

I agree with Bonnie Lee. You're not only tooting your own horn, you don't address the real issue of the Times' decline, including the loss of so many talented staff. Sam Zell, fix it, or please, let the ownership change hands to a deserving publisher.

[Kenneth Powell]

Mr. Stanton's annoucement sounds a honest and autentic commitment for the loyal readers of the Times. Nevertheless all angelinos will observe with reservation how this commitment evolves due to the fact that the Times is owned by a corporate, entreprenurial class, not interested in traditional, in-depth news, but only "boutique journalism. There is in the Los Angeles Times a corporate managment who either has lost or lacks civic and public responsability. I personally will observe how the Time's Editors honor their ethic and commitment by conveying us with food-for-thought coverage.

[student]

The LAT local coverage has not always been bad. In the '90s it was at its peak. Covering the Valley, OC, Inland Empire and other LA surrounding areas like a hawk.

The photos and stories in the new burn series is wonderful. I can't complain. The photographs are impeccable. Best I've seen from the LAT in years.

I, and every reader out there, can see that the difference between 15% and 14% is very minimal. Where is the fight? The one we think journalists should have. The bite that follows the bark. Don't editors apply it to their newsrooms?

[Outside observer]

in my opinion,Interesting that laying off 135 people gets a tiny mention when it impacts all the journalist those staying and going. With cutting 135 jobs that can only mean one thing; less coverage and reporting or overload for those still in the game. Mr Stanton maybe you can ask the "money guy" if he reads the paper or just owns it.
I have observed very little coverage for O.C., which has how many millions living down there? But we cover "goats".Sorry O.C. apparently that is how they see you.
Maybe in "cuts" O.C. lost all their reporters...
PS. Bonnie and Eileen Thank You. But don't hold your breath.

[Dianne]

Real estate is one of the biggest industies here in Los Angeles- yet the reastate section of the sunday times has been cut?? you have got to be kidding me! who made that lame decision?! I want my sunday RE section back!

[Marcos El Malo]

What happened to Susan Carpenter and Throttle Jockey? I take it she was cut from the LAT, but why has her column disappeared? Is this the corporate equivalent to the Soviet practice of rewriting history and making someone a "non-person"?

[Jamie Gold]

Thanks for your question, Marcos. Susan is still on staff, though the Throttle Jockey column was discontinued when Highway 1 ceased publication. Says Leo Wolinsky, associate editor for features, “Sue is still writing for us and will end up in a broader role.”