Patterico's Pontifications

7/28/2008

L.A. Times Opinion Section Layoffs/Movement

Filed under: Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 5:25 pm



My pal Tim Cavanaugh writes to say that he was laid off at the L.A. Times. Tim was one of the people willing to stand up on principle, as he did when Andres Martinez left, and therefore it would be natural that they would single him out.

Tim says that the following people are leaving the opinion section:

Tim Cavanaugh
Amina Khan
Gary Spiecker
Diedre Ware
Nico Smedley
Sonni Efron
Jim Newton
Swati Pandey

Newton, of course, left on his own. Swati Pandey will be staying at the paper, but moving to Business. Tim says Efron volunteered to be laid off. Everyone else was involuntarily terminated.

My best wishes to Tim and the others in their future endeavors.

19 Responses to “L.A. Times Opinion Section Layoffs/Movement”

  1. Well it looks like I’ll never be able to write an op-ed for them ever again.

    David Ehrenstein (21c975)

  2. If I was starting a newspaper in Los Angeles, Tim would be one of the first 20 people I’d hire. A news organization fails to recognize its own talent at its (considerable) peril.

    Matt Welch (038d51)

  3. Can’t keep the good ones,
    Have to support the long-term, PC hacks!

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  4. Losing a job is one of the hardest things to face in life – right up there with a death, divorce, serious illness or bankruptcy. I hope things work out well and quickly for each one of these people.

    DRJ (de3993)

  5. I wish all former employees of the LAT the best.

    Daryl Herbert (4ecd4c)

  6. These newspaper cuts are very troubling. It’s as though the printed word and its legacy is being washed out to sea. I hope each person finds a better situation, a good salary and a satisfying work environment at the next stop.

    Vermont Neighbor (31ccb6)

  7. It’s sad that people are losing their jobs.

    However, it’s necessary that the corrupt major media are superseded.

    Evil Pundit (646727)

  8. At the risk of even more bad karma, I won’t say anything about Kavanaugh.

    However, regarding AminaKhan, see my comment (“NoMoreBlatherDotCom”) here. I’m sure many other examples could be found.

    Regarding SwatiPandey, many people took him/her to task; they even printed one as a letter: link

    TLB (e10679)

  9. A sad day. All of these are big losses for the paper. A special word of thanks for Dierdre Ware and especially Gary Spiecker, an excellent editor with loads of imaginaton and patience. I’ll miss his expert touch.

    Joe Mathews (133175)

  10. I’m pretty sure I met Spiecker. Seemed like a good guy.

    Patterico (cc3b34)

  11. Wow. Idiots to let go of Cavanaugh.

    LYT (b67340)

  12. What kind of retards lay off Tim Cavanaugh?

    Amy Alkon (262cdf)

  13. Very bad move to let Cavanaugh go. He understood that the Times’ opinion section is predictable, elitist, and out of touch, and he was trying to give it a pulse. It appears the Times’ strategy for reviving that section is “less of the same.”

    Soxnation (eb4531)

  14. It appears the Times’ strategy for reviving that section is “less of the same.”

    Which, if we’re being honest, would be an improvement…

    God knows I could stand to have less of it. 🙂

    Scott Jacobs (fa5e57)

  15. I can’t say that Padney was any help in the editorial section–maybe business will be a better fit.

    But why is Nick Goldberg still there? He’s the architect of the LAT’s dismal editorial edifice. Tim understands what makes that section have some heat.

    Kate (cd6f2a)

  16. You can’t do good journalism on the cheap. I suppose Mickey Kaus is happy, though.

    Steve Smith (f5b02e)

  17. The deliberate dismantling of the LA Times is a “progressive” response to failure. This is not a layoff, but a purge. The editors and publisher are now; “destroying the Los Angeles Times to save it”. When, not if, will we see helicopters (metaphorically) rescuing refugees from the roof of the Times Building on 1st. & Spring St.?

    C. Norris (80e017)

  18. Will the last Liberal leave in a Prius?

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  19. I kinda considered myself a core troll at the opinion.latimes blog, especially on the immigration issue. Tim is definitely wrong on that issue, and a bunch of others, but the blog he ran was very generous in their comments policy. And of course Tim was great as selected news items to highlight and in coming up with just the right titles for posts. He will be missed. Heck I think I’ll even miss Ms. Pandey’s obsession with getting more H1-B’s into the country. I wouldn’t be surprised if their traffic is already dropping.

    A final thought… I know its a corporate media blog, but you’d think they’d at least mention that the team was being broken up. I too hope and trust Tim and the others land softly.

    Mitchell Young (4634be)


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