We are devastated that 14 of our Guild members will receive layoff notices today.
This is the third round of newsroom layoffs in as many years, and it will leave the Los Angeles Times ever more decimated. Today’s announcement of cuts represent 6% of our newsroom staff.
What was once one of the nation’s most widely read newspapers has become a shadow of its former self, our ranks halved in just three years.
Although our members and their families will feel the burden of sudden job loss, they are not to blame for what led us here: a stubborn reliance on ever-declining print revenue; a leadership team without a business plan; and a subscriber exodus triggered in part by the handling of The Times’ presidential endorsement.
We urge the ownership to install a publisher from outside the organization to right the ship and build a sustainable business.
We still believe in the Los Angeles Times and the important role it plays in our community. It is difficult to carry out our mission when our staff has been cut year after year. But we will continue to report and we will continue to fight — for our members, our readers, our subscribers and our city.
– Los Angeles Times Guild Unit Council & Bargaining Team