Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen: The LA Times Appears to Be in a State of Imminent Collapse

The Los Angeles Times has been around since 1881 and has survived enormous 
ups and downs over the past 142 years. But one thing remained constant: 
the LA Times could be depended on for trustworthy and timely reporting of 
the news. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, the 260-plus square mile 
suburbs of Los Angeles, my parents were loyal Times subscribers. The paper 
has enjoyed over a century of respect and popularity with its consumers 
and even detractors; until now. Impending doom seems to have struck the 
Times, with new reports of "brutal" layoffs and exodus of senior editors. 

The Los Angeles-based newspaper started its downward slide in the late 
2000s when it went through a series of calamities, including bankruptcy, 
ownership changes, an abnormally high attrition rate when it came to its 
editor and general staff, and with its biggest hiccup of moving from their 
historic headquarters building in downtown Los Angeles to a newer building 
in El Segundo which is located near the Los Angeles International Airport 
and giving the Times a new nickname of "The El Segundo Times." The move 
came after the Times was purchased in 2018 by a South African billionaire 
and surgeon, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. 

Fast-forward to today and the news that comes with the day brings reports 
of an institution in full panic and chaos mode. Tuesday's big news was 
that the paper will be shedding a large percentage of the newsroom staff 
and editors (115 people to be laid off), and two of the four remaining 
senior editors (ironically they came from BuzzFeed) have called it quits. 
This comes just a few weeks after Executive Editor Kevin Merida abruptly 
left, citing differences with the paper’s owner.

Earlier this month, Kevin Merida suddenly announced that he was departing 
his post as executive editor after less than three years on the job. Then, 
news of forthcoming mass layoffs ensued, prompting the employee’s union to 
stage a historic one-day walk out on Friday. The LAT’s Meg James reported 
last week that management could slash upwards of 20% of the newsroom — or 
roughly 100 positions — with the looming layoffs, though a person familiar 
with the matter warned to me on Monday that it could ultimately end up 
being “much worse” than that.

One of the two remaining managing editors, Julia Turner, tried to reassure 
the newsroom staff of a continuing operation, but at the same time, not 
sugarcoating the possibly grim future. In an email to employees, Turner 
says:

“Scott [Kraft] and I are now responsible for all editorial operations, and 
we’re advocating for editorial interests in conversations with the company 
about the financial crisis we face.”

No one seems to truly know what is going on, or what will come, as several 
employees are pointing their fingers or at the very least offering 
criticism at the owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. An anonymous employee 
stated:

“We have a billionaire who doesn’t understand media and thinks he can cut 
his way to success...” 

The critique of the leadership does not come without merit. The Times has 
lost roughly $30 million annually since he took over with his activist 
daughter, Nika Soon-Shiong. The Times is shedding editorial staff and 
general newsroom staff at an extremely concerning rate, whether by being 
laid off or outright quitting; the media giant has a historic attrition 
rate. But more to the point, the LA Times is losing big to its 
competition. The paper's year-over-year digital traffic, much of which is 
from paying subscribers, was down 38 percent in November 2023, a 
staggering hit.


As our Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar wrote:

This year-over-year decline in digital/mobile traffic for the L.A. Times 
is massive, and seeing the number in comparison to outlets like the 
Washington Post and the New York Times puts it into perspective. It's more 
difficult to get advertisers when you're losing readers, and a 38 percent 
decline in digital traffic for a publication where the overwhelming 
majority of its pieces are for subscribers only is a very bad development. 
It's also interesting that RedState's traffic is in the same universe as 
the Los Angeles Times' despite having a very small fraction of the 
resources (equipment, writers) the LAT has.

That is their sole purpose in life, to report the news and topics of 
interest. The same goes for RedState, but there are some key differences 
between RedState and the Times: our contributor staff is a fraction of the 
size of the Times, as was pointed out; many of our contributors have other 
jobs in addition to writing here, and we do this out of love of country 
and the truth. We don't get paid exorbitant salaries or get fame or 
fortune like they do. Yet we beat them at the very game they were a huge 
part of creating, every day. 

Besides the competition, the Times has another serious problem; they have 
lost touch with reality and have taken a deep dive into being just another 
partisan hack of the left. Decades ago, the Times used to have a solid 
reputation for being truly independent in the face of politics, hitting 
the right AND the left equally across the board. The same cannot be said 
of the Times anymore, as they have become a stalwart member of the huge 
media giant that coordinates with, supports, defends, and runs cover for 
the leftist political and ideological machine.  

For example, as Van Laar covered earlier Tuesday, LA Times had the nerve 
to endorse LA's District Attorney George Gascon for his re-election. As 
she pointed out, Gascon has never once in his professional time as a 
prosecutor tried a felony case in court, is a far-left DA who refuses to 
use maximum punishments, will not use weapon enhancements in most cases, 
and is one of the most soft-on-crime DA's in the nation. With property and 
retail theft and more running rampant in LA County, he continues to double 
down on his horrible policies and the Times thinks he's deserving of a 
second term. 

READ MORE: Why Is the L.A. Times Losing $30+ Million a Year? This 
Hilarious Endorsement Is a Big Indicator

Another prime example of tone deafness and ignorance in media reporting is 
the editorial penned by Times editor Paul Thornton, which my colleague 
Mike Miller properly skewered, asking "very nicely" for those Californians 
leaving the state for better, safer, and cheaper places to live, to not 
speak ill of the state. Even while admitting the real reason why people 
are leaving, the words and tone of Thornton and the rest of the Times 
staff are the perfect example of why the former paper giant is imploding 
on itself. 

All eyes are on the Times, as journalists around the country look at what 
seems to be an ugly and bloody fall from power and influence. We are 
watching as the purge of staff and the mass exodus of higher-ups all leave 
the institution. I'm no expert, but I surmise that they are in deep 
trouble and this is just the beginning of an inevitable end to a once 
great media giant, at the very least, they will never be the same.  

https://redstate.com/mdempsey/2024/01/23/oh-how-the-mighty-hath-fallen-
the-la-times-appears-to-be-in-a-state-of-imminent-collapse-n2169102