Now the LA Times employees are pissed

[rinkrat]

LAist: LA Times employees bite back

[Bogey]

What else is the owner of a company in an industry which is rapidly becoming obsolete supposed to do?

[Birdman]

Yeah, they need to STFU. Print is dead. Rather than complaining about it, why do they not be proactive about expanding onto the net, or go find a job.

He bought a failing business, and he's going to cut the red tape to make it a profitable venture. Long time staffers are going to be shown the door and replaced with Younger people, because they are cheaper.

[FlyinKIng]

I stopped my subscription along time ago, but I still check LA Times.com everyday. In fact I would pay $5 a month just to log on to it. They should think about that.

[Birdman]

Originally Posted by FlyinKIng

I stopped my subscription along time ago, but I still check LA Times.com everyday. In fact I would pay $5 a month just to log on to it. They should think about that.

Everyone out there feels that internet content should be free, so that won't work.

[FlyinKIng]

Originally Posted by Birdman

Everyone out there feels that internet content should be free, so that won't work.

Agreed, but they need to be paid somehow. I guess when they make you sign in, they could sell my name and make money that way. I just enjoy MOST of there articles and would hate to see this impair there world class standards (even though they don't a **** about hockey in LA)

[santiclaws]

Can't wait to see if that picture will be on the front page of the Times tomorrow.

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by FlyinKIng

Agreed, but they need to be paid somehow.

Advertising.

As an aside, they did just expand their online division a ton in the last 8 months (a bunch of guys I know went there at the end of last year).

[PuckHead27]

Yawn

[Mateo]

Originally Posted by Birdman

Yeah, they need to STFU. Print is dead. Rather than complaining about it, why do they not be proactive about expanding onto the net, or go find a job.

He bought a failing business, and he's going to cut the red tape to make it a profitable venture. Long time staffers are going to be shown the door and replaced with Younger people, because they are cheaper.

Yeah, allow me to address a few of these points:

1) You try finding a job in this job market. There just aren't that many jobs out there for journalists.

2) The newspaper business is not failing. It's not making as much profit as they have in the past. Here's part of an article from 2006:

Over the last 25 years, the average profit margin for corporate America has been 8.3 percent. But last year the 13 largest newspaper chains turned an average profit margin of 20 percent. The most profitable, such as McClatchy and Gannett, turned a profit margin of 30 percent; Knight-Ridder, 19 percent.

By contrast, last year ExxonMobil -- whose record profits have drawn angry calls for a windfall-profits tax on the oil industry -- turned only a 10-percent profit margin.

According to Time, only commercial banks (32.4 percent profit margin) and pharmaceutical companies (24.2 percent profit margin) beat out papers, which have an average 19.3 percent margin.

Don't think that shifting the focus to the Internet isn't a prime consideration for some of us. It's trying to convince the old ****bags in charge to adjust their viewpoint.

[BIG JOE]

I need the L.A. Times. What else am I supposed to line my rabbit hutch with ?

[trebledgirl35]

My friend just got laid off from the times, but she works in the mobile division. She was supposed to help take the LA Times mobile, but I guess plans have changed.

[King Ludwig]

Originally Posted by BIG JOE

I need the L.A. Times. What else am I supposed to line my rabbit hutch with ?

But does it give the "rabbit pellets" a bad name???

[Butch 19]

Originally Posted by Birdman

Print is dead. Rather than complaining about it, why do they not be proactive about expanding onto the net, or go find a job.

I disagree. When I'm eating breakfast or riding on the train, I want to read a paper, not look at a laptop.

Unfortunately for the LAT (and the OC Regtister), their paper isn't worth subscribing to...

[trebledgirl35]

Originally Posted by Butch 19

I disagree. When I'm eating breakfast or riding on the train, I want to read a paper, not look at a laptop.

Unfortunately for the LAT (and the OC Regtister), their paper isn't worth subscribing to...

With internet enabled mobile phones, I don't mind reading news on my phone.