Due to financial difficulties, The Los Angeles Times said on Tuesday that it will be letting go of about 20% of its newsroom staff.
According to the newspaper, it will lay off the greatest number of employees in its 142-year history—at least 115 people.
The story follows other widespread layoffs in the US media sector, which have occurred at publications like Pitchfork, an independent music publisher, and Sports Illustrated.
A reporter for the Los Angeles Times called it a “dark day.”
The owner of the newspaper said in a report released on Tuesday that the layoffs were brought on by large, unsustainable financial losses of $30 million (£23.6 million) to $40 million annually.
All of us are hurt by the decision made today, but we must move quickly to create a viable and sustainable paper for the coming generation,” stated Patrick Soon-Shiong.
Staff members were notified that 94 guild-covered positions were among the positions being terminated in a memo sent to newsroom union members. This amounts to 25% of all guild members, as reported by the newspaper.
Matt Pearce, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and the president of Media Guild of the West, described the day as “dark” at the newspaper.
“A large number of departments and groups within the newsroom will be severely impacted.”
Those affected included Kimbriell Kelly, the chief of the Washington bureau, and other senior editors. The paper’s video unit and several award-winning photographers also lost their jobs.
After receiving a warning about impending layoffs from Mr. Soon-Shiong, employees staged a one-day walkout on Friday in protest.
Sara Yasin, the managing editor of the newspaper, resigned on Monday, citing “professional and personal decisions,” in response to the walk-out.
Kevin Merida, the paper’s executive editor, also recently departed.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Soon-Shiong attributed the newspaper’s current financial woes to previous leadership.
According to him, the newspaper has failed to meet its targets for digital subscribers and has had trouble making a steady income from advertising.
“It’s challenging to think back on the turbulent past few years that our company has been through, with losses in capital and operating costs exceeding $100 million,” he remarked.
Still, Mr. Soon-Shiong stated that he supports the business and has faith in its prospects. For $500 million in 2018, he bought the LA Times, its sister publication the San Diego Union-Tribune, and a few other media companies.
“There is no unrest here. “We truly have a plan,” he declared.
The US news industry has been severely disrupted at the same time as the layoffs.
Sports Illustrated’s union announced last week that the magazine intended to fire almost all of its unionized employees because the publisher had neglected to pay its licensing fees.
Additionally, Conde Nast, the publisher of venerable magazines like Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Vogue, announced last autumn that it intended to fire over 300 staff members.
Conde Nast announced last week that as part of the reorganization, all of the employees of Pitchfork, a website dedicated to music journalism, will be laid off and integrated into GQ Magazine.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, recently extended offers of voluntary buyouts to employees of The Washington Post, which had losses of about $100 million in 2023.