Newspaper Deathwatch

Sources tell us OC Register just announced a 5% paycut company wide. We're assuming that's for all Freedom Communications papers.

We'll post more information as we get it.

LAT pressman Ed Padgett writes on his blog:

My career at the Los Angeles Times began on August 3, 1972, and the Sunday circulation of our newspaper always surpassed the million mark my entire career. This unfortunately changed on Sunday June 7, 2009 when circulation eased below one million copies.

Here's a headline from the Los Angeles Times Media Center:
1961 Sunday circulation breaks the one-million mark several times during the year.

Eddy Hartenstein was brought on board as publisher of the Los Angeles Times on August 18th, 2008 to stem the bleeding at the newspaper. Just like his three Tribune Company predecessors, the blood flow has not stopped or even slowed.

With circulation and advertising descending on a daily basis at the Los Angeles Times will our publisher resort to cutting expenses by reducing the size of the workforce to increase revenue, one more time?

On Sunday June 7th, 2009 the Los Angeles Times distributed 584,310 West edition newspapers, 404,352 East Edition newspapers, for a total distribution of 988,662 Sunday newspapers.

Michael Sigman was publisher of the LA Weekly from 1990-2002. It was Sigman who originally hired Laurie Ochoa in 2001, and in a piece on today's Huffington Post he reminisces about his time at the paper and questions the current ownership's judgement:

The Weekly has cut way back on editorial spending for obvious reasons -- the Internet, Craigslist, the recession -- and by most accounts Laurie has done a brilliant job keeping the paper's quality as high as possible under the circumstances.

Was "parting ways" with Laurie -- a smart, sophisticated editor who knows L.A. like the back of her hand -- a good idea, especially with no replacement in sight? (Ah, but they're advertising for a new editor on Craigslist!) No. To paraphrase Freud, sometimes a mistake is just a mistake.

Previously on FBLA:
Editor-In-Chief Laurie Ochoa Leaving LA Weekly
LA Weekly Looking for a New Editor...On Craigslist
Media Criticism Via Facebook

Of course this whole fiasco would make a truly fab less than ten minute YouTube video. Fitting.

"The old ad boys are drinking martinis dry. Singing, 'Tech has taken us for a ride.'"

Produced by L. McDuff, lyrics by Don McLean and sung by Kevin Osbourne.

Via I Want Media

Our sister blog MediaJobsDaily brings our attention to this disturbing chart-

More from Reflections of a Newsosaur:

In the worst quarter in modern history for American newspapers, advertising sales fell by an unprecedented 28.3% in the first three months of 2009, plunging sales by more than $2.6 billion from the prior year.

Statistics posted without publicity on the website of the Newspaper Association of America show that print ad sales fell by a historic 29.7% to $5.9 billion in the first period of this year and that online sales fell a record 13.4% to $696.3 million.

Former newspaper analyst for Merrill Lynch, Lauren Rich Fine gives her take on the state of newspapers and online content.

"Twitter is like a mall that forgot to charge rent," says Fine.

Via BeetTV

BREAKING: Just got the lousy news that editor-in-chief Laurie Ochoa is leaving the LA Weekly. No idea if she was fired or finally just lost patience with the tomfoolery of the paper's owners. Release is below:

For Immediate Release: LA Weekly, Editor to Part Ways

The LA Weekly is announcing that Editor in Chief Laurie Ochoa and the paper are parting ways after eight years.

A former intern, contributor, and special sections editor at the LA Weekly from 1984-1988, Ochoa returned to take over the editor in chief role in 2001.

LA Weekly wishes her luck in all future endeavors.

LA Weekly is actively searching for Editor in Chief candidates who will continue LA Weekly's legacy of journalistic excellence while expanding its online presence.

Since 1978, LA Weekly has been decoding Los Angeles for its readers, infiltrating its subcultures, observing and analyzing its shifting rhythms, digging up its unreported stories and confronting the city's political leaders. LA Weekly has won more awards from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies than any other paper in the country, and in 2007 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for criticism by food writer Jonathan Gold.

A street artist named Posterchild has recently taken to turning unused newspaper boxes in Toronto into planters for flowers. He's planted five guerrilla gardens so far, which he chronicles on his blog Blade Diary. Maybe we could start something similar in Los Angeles. We've certainly got the real estate.

continued...

The whole idea of the newspaper industry covering the story about psychiatrists discussing re-classifying bitterness as a mental illness is our happy thought of the day.

LAT's Shari Roan's piece includes the sentence:

Revenge is not a treatment.

Pshaw.

Embittered people are typically good people who have worked hard at something important, such as a job, relationship or activity, Linden says. When something unexpectedly awful happens -- they don't get the promotion, their spouse files for divorce or they fail to make the Olympic team -- a profound sense of injustice overtakes them. Instead of dealing with the loss with the help of family and friends, they cannot let go of the feeling of being victimized. Almost immediately after the traumatic event, they become angry, pessimistic, aggressive, hopeless haters.

Sounds like every journo cocktail party we've 'covered' this past year.

Joel Rubin at LAT's LA Now writes:

The union representing Los Angeles police officers is pressuring the owner of San Diego's main newspaper to change the paper's editorial stance on labor issues or to fire its editorial writers.

The feud is rooted in the recent purchase of the San Diego Union-Tribune by Platinum Equity, a private Beverly Hills firm.

Platinum relies on a $30-million investment from the pension fund of Los Angeles police officers and fire fighters, along with large sums from other public-employee pension systems around the state, to help fund its acquisitions of companies. As League President Paul M. Weber views it, that makes the League part owner in the flagging Tribune and League officials are none to happy with the paper's consistent position that San Diego lawmakers should cut back on salaries and benefits for public employees in order to help close gaping budget deficits.

"Since the very public employees they continually criticize are now their owners, we strongly believe that those who currently run the editorial pages should be replaced," Weber wrote in a March 26 letter to Platinum CEO Tom Gores.

It just occurred to us how weird it is that the Union-Tribune is anti-union. Just as weird if Paste falls apart.

Previously on FBLA: SD Union-Tribune Bought by Investment Firm with Tom Jones Look-a-Like CEO, Union-Tribune, Co-Winner of Worst Person in the World, 192 Jobs Cut At San Diego Union-Tribune