Patterico's Pontifications

3/24/2009

More L.A. Times Layoffs

Filed under: Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 8:57 pm



It’s becoming a dog bites man story.

33 Responses to “More L.A. Times Layoffs”

  1. Schadenfreude

    Jimminy'cricket (637168)

  2. Go Baby GO!

    are they selling lofts and condos in the Spring St. building yet?

    redc1c4 (9c4f4a)

  3. It’s becoming a dog bites man story.

    Until the names Rutten, Hitzlik, Brooks, Morrison, and Lopez, as well as job description “member of the editorial board” starts appearing in these stories, color me disinterested.

    JVW (bff0a4)

  4. Throw in Dan Neal to the mix. Hiltzik is everywhere these days–front page, business section etc.

    Mike Myers (674050)

  5. Lopez has actually done some good columns, as has Morrison. But as for Rutten, Hiltzik and Brooks . . . gack.

    And a big YES! to getting rid of the editorial board, IMO a useless and dangerous concept. As a reporter, I always put my name on what I write, and it would be good practice for the harrumphing editorial mucketymucks at the LAT to be likewise held accountable for what they write, not hide behind a faceless entity.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  6. I understand that Lopez’s column about the homeless musician is being made into a movie, so perhaps he will have enough Hollywood dough that he can volunteer to have his salary reduced to save some poor advertising or print guy’s job.

    Ho ho ho ho ho, that is a good one. I crack myself up sometimes.

    Seriously though, he wrote the story while a salaried reporter on the paper’s time, and the original idea appeared in their pages. Maybe the LAT should demand a share of whatever percentage Lopez makes on the movie, sort of the way that a university or a business demands a piece of the action when an employee patents a product.

    Brother Bradley, I’ll have to take your word for it that Patttt Morrison once wrote a good column. It’s been three or so years since I canceled my subscription, and Lord knows I don’t bother to read her online. I certainly don’t remember anything from her that rose above the trite and mundane when I was a subscriber though.

    JVW (bff0a4)

  7. …let the newspaper bailouts begin…or at least the restructuring as non-profits with tax breaks. The LAT will live on!

    Dana (137151)

  8. The LAT’s parent company is already a non-profit organization.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  9. Mostly it made me chuckle, BJF. There was just absolutely no way the government could or would be able to resist attempting to fix the newspaper industry.

    Dana (137151)

  10. Hey how’s that conservative L.A. paper doing?

    You know, the one that doesn’t exist…

    Or does it?

    schadenfreude, indeed!

    Hax Vobiscum (23258e)

  11. Lessee, Obama could pay Hiltzik several hundred grand for a few more “business” columns about why Rethuglicans are evil and why businesses and “the wealthy” should pay more taxes to fix the economy. Rutten could deliver a few harrumphing pieces on ethics in journalism …. wait, that comedy stuff treads on Joel Stein’s territory.

    I’m sure the administration will think of something appropriate to reward the likes of Rutten and Hiltzik for their faithful service.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  12. Yeah Brad, paying a journalist to shill for the White House would be contemptible.

    Jan. 8, 2005, Washington Post
    “The Education Department paid commentator Armstrong Williams $241,000 to help promote President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law on the air, an arrangement that Williams acknowledged yesterday involved “bad judgment” on his part.”

    Feb. 10, 2005 corpwatch.org
    “Conservative columnists Maggie Gallagher, whose writing is distributed by Universal Press Syndicate and Mike McManus were exposed as having been on the payroll of the Department of Health and Human Services. Both columnists agreed to work on behalf of the Bush Administration efforts to promote marriage.”

    Feb. 2, 2005 Congressional Record
    “Last year, we discovered that the Administration was paying a public relations firm to creat fake television news stories. These fake news stories touting the new Medicare law made their way onto local news shows on forty television stations across the country.
    “These fake news stories even featured a fake reporter–Karen Ryan “reporting from Washington.” While Karen Ryan does exist, she’s not a reporter. She is a public relations consultant based here in Washington.
    “The Government Accountability Office investigated the legality of these fake news stories and came back with a clear decision: it was illegal propaganda. The GAO also said that the Administration must officially report the misspent funds to Congress.
    “But the Bush Administration simply ignored GAO’s legal ruling. The Administration said that because of the separation of powers, the GAO
    can’t tell them what to do.”

    Hax Vobiscum (4012df)

  13. Who’s going to copy-and-paste Democratic Party media releases and Wikipedia now?

    I’m devastated.

    Evil Pundit (43faaa)

  14. Yes, I agree. Three cherry-picked accounts versus the daily deluge of disinformation disseminated by the democrat party and the JournoList.

    The only difference is that the democrat party does not pay the papers, so that makes it alright.

    Dr. K (d288e5)

  15. Dr. K,

    Three cherry-picked accounts, without links, from a known liar. As usual, for all we know these were pulled from thin air. I could type a bunch of stuff as if it came from the NYT to confirm how conservatives are great and progressives always fail… but of course I’m not a proven liar and would never do it. I wouldn’t trust anything the “journalist” says. He stated he would leave and never return if it was proven he lied. He’s ignored the proof and continued to comment… even on the same thread. His comments are worth nothing. His word is worth nothing. His continued presence at this blog is worth less than nothing.

    Stashiu3 (460dc1)

  16. Well, we all know that when dealing with JournoLististas that the truth is a relative thing.

    It’s all about the Narrative.

    Dr. K (d288e5)

  17. “As usual, for all we know these were pulled from thin air…”

    No, they were in fact pulled from his backside, which is his standard MO.

    Dmac (49b16c)

  18. It’s all about the Narrative.

    And the nuance.

    Old Coot (a71844)

  19. Women And Minorities Hit Hardest.

    Official Internet Data Office (cbf26d)

  20. Well, I would be the last person to defend our good friend HackOff, but, he is on point –
    if lacking in context – on those three cut&pastes.
    The Bush Admin did do what is alleged,
    and the parties involved where properly excoriated by their peers for it.
    But, it was on the public record, not hidden behind the closed doors of JournoList.

    AD - RtR/OS (10cf6d)

  21. AD, hopefully you are the last person to defend him. 😉

    Seriously, providing links to the source is usually expected. Taking him at face value almost always ends up with a “never mind”. Finally, being on point and accurate with 1 out of 50 comments does not (IMO) excuse him from scorn and ridicule.

    That said, props to you for bending over backwards to be fair… even when it’s undeserved.

    *tips top hat (actually, a salute since I don’t own a top hat)*

    Stashiu3 (460dc1)

  22. And when will the media come clean on JournoList? What other politicians, besides Obama’s budget director, are on it?

    How could that story go full stop when there are so many unanswered questions? Per Hacks comment, it seemed there was something like……what’s that word…..oh, yeah, an investigation by the media when Bush broke journalistic rules four years ago. All O did was show some bright shiny objects (AIG bonuses) and the media used the distraction to drop this.

    EBJ (2fd7f7)

  23. Every professedly non-ideological news outfit should require its journalists to reveal if they are on the JournoList, and make that news public.

    And the Obama administration selects yet another former lobbyist for a high-ranking job.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R., (f34d89)

  24. Thanks for your words, Stashiu…
    HackOff receives almost as much scorn and derision as he deserves; but, I’m sure that the capable minds here will be able to step-up to the challenge.
    As to the above, I think he just had one of those “blind pig/stopped clock” moments.
    Reality will reassert itself, and he will revert to his despicable base-line.

    AD - RtR/OS (10cf6d)

  25. I love the double-standard. Obama doesn’t have to pay a shill to plant stories, because they can all read them on JournoList or cover them in their conference calls. I’m sure Stephanopolis isn’t paid, per se, nor Chris Matthews, nor Jennifer Loven (on whom Obama called First! OMG! last night), nor…well, you get the idea.

    carlitos (efdd90)

  26. Mr Vobiscum wrote:

    Hey how’s that conservative L.A. paper doing?

    You know, the one that doesn’t exist…

    Or does it?

    schadenfreude, indeed!

    Well, it isn’t laying off anyone and it isn’t losing money, that’s for sure. The conservative Los Angeles “paper” isn’t paper at all, but a series of conservative websites, of which Patterico’s Pontifications is but one.

    The non-journalist Dana, the one who understands economics and can recognize eighteenth century technology when he gets newsprint smeared on his fingers (556f76)

  27. TNJDTOWUEACRECTWHGNSOHF,

    Add SoCal talk radio to your list of conservative-friendly LA media.

    The likes of bunkertrollHax still haven’t entered the 21st century. No wonder its comrades in the left-wing media are struggling.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R., (f34d89)

  28. Hey, Layoff Gods: Patt Morrison, Joel Stein, Rosa Brooks. Thank you.

    Kevin Stafford (857688)

  29. Is anybody not familiar with the term, “Dead tree media?”

    After years of articles about global warming, glorifying tree hugger fanatics, and overflowing landfills, can anybody actually buy a newspaper without picturing devastated forests, homeless forest creatures, rivers polluted with runoff, and overflowing trash barges from producing and disposing of newsprint? When I haul the trash and recycled materials out to the curb every week, the largest single source of waste is the daily newspaper. The relentless barrage of greenie stories published in the newspapers is destroying them by making people feel guilty about buying newspapers.

    Now one might try to write stories that proper forest management and cutting down mature trees makes for a healthier forest but who is going to believe that after the papers have made heroes out of people living in trees to keep them from being cut down. One might try to describe a tree as the nature’s ultimate self replicating solar powered factory that uses CO2 for fertilizer to produce wood and paper. But one key element of that process is that you need to cut the trees down when mature. The greenie stories printed in the paper make sure we can’t do that.

    For an industry that gets most of its money from delivering advertising, the newspaper publishers do not understand that you do not want your customers to feel bad about buying your product.

    Gary P (c64d75)

  30. FYI, Google has a warning on this website about hosting malware. you might want to reconsider listing the link.

    Erik Rogers (a063a7)

  31. Oh sorry, I didn’t mean patterico.com, I meant the link for this story …

    Erik Rogers (a063a7)

  32. Hey, I heard on that evil Fox News Channel that NYT is laying people off and giving people a 5 percent cut in pay. Or, that’s what I think I heard.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  33. […] in January seemed like death in slow motion. After a while, news of further March layoffs became a dog bites man story. It happened again in October, and then again in December. Circulation continued to plummet, and I […]

    Patterico's Pontifications » Patterico’s Los Angeles Dog Trainer Year in Review 2009 (e4ab32)


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