I'm off for a week of backpacking, but I had to leave with this:
Sam Zell took over the paper in January. After promising that the path to growth was not through cuts, he immediately began cutting. So far, Zell has ousted over 200 reporters, photographers, copy editors and editors from the Los Angeles Times. Hundreds of other editorial workers have been fired from other papers in the Tribune chain. This is not business acumen. This is not saving money. This is suicide.
Our aim is to convince Zell that he has taken the wrong path to bettering our paper—both journalistically and financially. But if we cannot do that, then our aim is to convince Zell to sell the paper to an owner who actually cares about Los Angeles, about great journalism, about kicking ass and taking names and speaking truth to power.
I have the fortune not to work for the Tribune Co., which as I've said previously is not going about its business the right way, so I have no direct stake in the matter. But, I do lend my full support to these guys – unions are a tricky thing, but at this point – may not be a bad idea.
"Take Back The Times."