Joseph Pulitzer, famed newspaper magnate and founder of the Pulitzer Prize once said, “Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together.” Sam Zell, billionaire and CEO of the Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Co. once said, “Everyone likes pussy. It’s un-American not to like pussy.”
With such an eloquent man at the helm of the Southland's flagship newspaper, there's little doubt that our press, along with our Republic, are once again on the rise. That is, as long as we're not talking about the probably-on-the-chopping-block Washington bureau. According to LA Observed, Zell let those lazy self-important reporters in D.C. know exactly how dispensable they are at a recent meeting there. Although we are not told how this information was leaked, apparently Zell said something along the lines of “there's way too many people (at the D.C. bureau) and they should start acting like a wire service for the Tribune newspapers.”
It's no secret newspapers have been axing bureaus from Washington to Moscow for years, growing ever more reliant on cheaper wire services in a pathetic attempt to reclaim the double digit profit margins of yesteryear.
The Times' Orange County bureau has taken massive hits itself in recent years. However, if Zell had his way, LA Observed reports, the situation would be “reversed” and D.C.'s bureau would see massive cuts and OC's staff would be beefed up (at least how we're interpreting it).
Does that mean we can expect better coverage of our fair county by the news juggernaut that is the Los Angeles Times? Pfft. It's probably more likely that the D.C. bureau will lose staffers and the OC bureau will lose still more staffers.
