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LA Times Ed. Defies Parent Company, Refuses to Cut Jobs

The Los Angeles Times’s corporate parent, The Tribune Company, is demanding job cuts in the newsroom, but editor Dean P. Baquet has said he will not comply with the demand.

Baquet was quoted in his own newspaper yesterday, saying he was defying the corporate parent and would not make the cuts requested, reports The New York Times. Publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson agrees with Baquet, saying, “Newspapers can’t cut their way into the future.”

The number of cuts requested remains unclear. The paper has eliminated more than 200 positions over the last five years. Editorial staff now numbers about 940.

According to the NY Times, it is rare for an editor to go public about internal budget battles. The fact that Baquet is doing so may mean that he is trying to rally support on the paper’s behalf during a time when Tribune is in turmoil and some local businessmen have expressed interest in purchasing the paper.

As the American newspaper industry continues to feel the effects of decreased advertising and circulation, major newspapers in the U.S have resorted to reducing editorial positions in order to cut costs.