LA Times slashes newsroom as paper struggles under billionaire owner

SACRAMENTO, California — The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday laid off at least 115 people, including about a quarter of its newsroom, in a stunning second round of major layoffs in less than a year that underscored broader challenges facing the news business.

Cuts included reporters, editors and columnists, according to the union that represents the newsroom and social media posts from individual journalists. Layoffs fell disproportionately on Black, Latino and Asian employees who tend to have less seniority, the Guild said in a statement.

“Slashing a quarter of the newsroom is devastating by any measure — to our members and their families, to our morale, to the quality of our journalism, to the bond with our audience, and to the communities that depend on our work,” the Guild said.

The action did not come as a surprise. Members of the union staged a one-day walkout on Friday in an attempt to pressure the paper’s billionaire owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, from cuts that some warned could be even more drastic.

The layoffs also follow the recent resignation of Executive Editor Kevin Merida, along with other senior newsroom managers, and difficult conditions for news organizations even with deep-pocketed owners.

Still, it was painful for journalists across the country — some of whom announced their status on social media shortly after learning their fate.

Soon-Shiong said in a story published on the Times website that the cuts were necessary because the paper could no longer lose $30 million to $40 million a year without more progress toward increasing revenue and readership, the Times reported.

“Today’s decision is painful for all, but it is imperative that we act urgently and take steps to build a sustainable and thriving paper for the next generation. We are committed to doing so,” he told the paper.

The purge, one of the largest in the paper’s history, represents the dashed hopes of Soon-Shiong’s ownership.

The billionaire investor initially plowed money to shore up the news organization's business and editorial operations, went on a hiring spree and pledged to diversify the newsroom. But the industry-wide challenges facing the newspaper, coupled with more recent stresses such as Covid-19 and the Hollywood strikes, reportedly tanked revenues, leading the company to start making deep cuts last summer.

“The decision to proceed with layoffs was incredibly difficult, and was made only after evaluating all other viable options,” Vice President of Communications Hillary Manning wrote in an email. “The Los Angeles Times newsroom remains the largest in the West and one of the largest in the country, and our ambitious journalism will continue.”

Manning declined to share specifics of how many positions will be cut from each department, but according to the Times story, the cuts include gutting the video department and making other big cuts to the photography and sports departments.

Sarah D. Wire, a reporter who covers national security for the Times from D.C., said in a social media post that the Washington bureau had been decimated in the cuts, leaving just five reporters.

While 94 members of the LA Times Guild, or about a quarter of the union's total membership, were laid off, Media Guild West President Matt Pearce said on X that the number was reduced after the guild went on strike last week.