Los Angeles Times is cutting more than 10% of Newsroom

The Los Angeles Times is cutting more than 10 percent of newsroom jobs, editor-in-chief Kevin Merida said Wednesday.

In an email to staff, Mr Merida said the company was restructuring and would cut 74 positions as a result. A spokeswoman for the news organization, Hillary Manning, said about 500 people would stay.

“The restructuring stems from the same ongoing economic headwinds facing news media across the country,” Merida said in the email, which was obtained by The New York Times. “Together, we have done a tremendous amount of work as a company to overcome budget and revenue challenges. But that work will need to be accelerated and we will need a more radical transformation in the newsroom to become a self-sufficient company.”

Mr Merida also said that while “the coming weeks and months will test us as editors”, he is “extremely confident” in the publication’s future.

“I am convinced that we are about to do something extraordinary,” he said, “turning a 141-year-old newspaper into a true next-generation digital powerhouse that serves the people of this city and the world, at unparalleled manners.”

Mr. Merida was appointed two years ago to lead the newsroom and help compete on a national scale. Last month, the Los Angeles Times won two Pulitzer Prizes: for breaking news reporting and for feature photography.

The Los Angeles Times is owned by billionaire biotech entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and his wife, Michele B. Chan, who bought the newspaper and other publications from Tribune in 2018 for $500 million. Dr. Soon-Shiong invested in the newsroom and added about 150 journalists.

Ms Manning, the spokeswoman, said in a statement that the economics of running a media had become “increasingly challenging” since the start of the pandemic and that the company was positioning itself to navigate this year and beyond.

She declined to comment on which sections would be affected by the cuts. The people who will be fired will be notified on Wednesday.

Reed Johnson, president of the LA Times Guild’s unity council, said in a statement that the union was outraged by the decision, which would affect about 15 percent of editors.

“We were blindsided by this news,” he said. “Management did not consult us beforehand about other options to cut costs and save money, other than layoffs. We have been negotiating a new contract since September and it was never hinted at during the negotiations.”

Other media organizations that have also cut spending in recent months include CNN, Gannett, The Washington Post, and NPR.