L.A. Times Editor is Ousted

You might be wondering, why should BAC care about this? As I read the report about Jim O'Shea being given the boot for resisting budget cuts I couldn't help but think about what Arianna Huffington wrote in her book "Pigs At The Trough" about how anytime there is a new corporate owner, one of the first things that happens is people lose their jobs.

Cutting staff might, in the short term, improve the bottom line -- but how good is it for the public?

Face it, we do not get "news" from broadcast media, we get entertainment that masquerades as news. Any national news broadcast that includes mention of Britney Spears is NOT NEWS.

Print media has always been the place for in depth reporting on important issues of the day. And while we may not pick up the traditional paper copy of the newspaper from news stands these days, many of us do read these publications online.

O'Shea is the second L.A. Times editor fired for trying to hold the line on proposed budget cuts. The previous editor, Dean Baquet, was also dismissed for refusing to cut the newsroom budget.

O'Shea's ouster came after real estate mogul Sam Zell took over the Tribune Co., but the battle lines seemed little changed: a Chicago conglomerate demanding increasingly deep cuts in its Los Angeles property, which has won a string of Pulitzers but feels disrespected by the out-of-town landlord.

Sources who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation -- a company spokeswoman would not even confirm the firing -- said O'Shea prided himself on holding the budgetary line and did not want a shrunken newsroom to be his legacy. While they said the proposed cutbacks were relatively small -- about $4 million, out of a budget of $120 million -- and did not involve significant layoffs, the reductions would follow a steady pace of budget-slashing since the Tribune Co. bought the Times in 2000, including about $10 million last year. The Times editorial staff has been cut from 1,200 to fewer than 900 since then, while circulation has declined from a peak of 1.1 million to about 800,000.

The other thing that disturbed me about this report is the decline in the number of people who are reading the newspaper. Newspapers generally provide the most detail about a subject, probably followed closely by bloggers -- who to a certain extent act as an extension of traditional print media. Bloggers are, or at least can be, news reporters. We've seen it most notably in reports from caucus sites in Iowa and Nevada.

It also seems as though Sam Zell is not following his own advice.

A new employee handbook, distributed at Zell's direction, sends a quite different message to workers.

How much should a company's culture reflect that of its chief executive, especially one who prides himself on being blunt and innovative -- and some might say abrasive?

If you're new Tribune Co. Chief Executive Sam Zell, the answer seems to be: a lot. At least that was the feeling workers got last week with distribution of a new employee handbook, a document that's nothing like the lawyer-filled gobbledygook in most corporate manuals.

Consider the opening:

"Rule 1: Use your best judgment."

"Rule 2: See Rule 1."

In an e-mail to employees, Zell (who took over in December after helping to take the parent company of the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune private) described the new handbook as shorter and more direct than its turgid predecessor, reflecting trust "in your judgment, and in each other."

So, did he really want O'Shea to use his "best judgment?"

Do we really want to see a cutback in reporters during an election year?

The new handbook replaces traditional words like "pursuant to," "required minimums" and "appropriate documentation," with plain language -- and even some jokes:

"• 2.5. Discrimination based on gender, age, race, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic not related to performance, ability or attitude, protected by federal or state law, or not protected (such as the inability to tell a joke, the occasional poor wardrobe choice or bad hair day), is strictly prohibited."

"• 4.5. Making the building too hot, banging on trash can lids or loud bagpipe music are annoyances you can complain about" but such actions don't constitute harassment on the basis of protected characteristics.

"• 7.1. If you use or abuse alcohol or drugs and fail to perform the duties required by your job acceptably, you are likely to be terminated. See Rule 1. Coming to work drunk is bad judgment."

"• 7.2. If you do not use or abuse alcohol or drugs and fail to perform the duties required by your job acceptably, you are likely to be terminated."

The new version "reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously, and to have fun," Zell wrote employees. It also outlines "our company's new core values," he said.

Gee, I'd certainly be in the mood for some "fun" while I worry about whether or not I'm going to get to keep my job. Wouldn't you?

Hey, maybe Jim O'Shea can file a lawsuit to get his job back? After all, wasn't he using his "best judgment?"