Los Angeles Times Lays Off 115 People, D.C. Bureau “Decimated,” Union Blasts “Brutal And Inhumane” Job Losses — Update
deadline.comUPDATE: The layoffs of more than 20% of the Los Angeles Times newsroom elicited sharp criticism from the guild, saying that it was handled in a “brutal and inhumane way.” “The Times chose long planned mass layoffs via a webinar in which staff members weren’t allowed so much as a question,” the guild said in a statement.
The guild claimed that management wanted them to agree “extreme layoff terms that it was unwilling to share on the record — essentially asking journalists to sign a deal without telling them what was in that deal.” The union also contended that the Times tried to gut the seniority process and “pit young journalists of color against more senior employees.” “The staffing cut is the fruit of years of middling strategy, the absence of a publisher and no clear direction,” the guild said.
Statement from the @latguild on today's mass layoffs at the @latimes: pic.twitter.com/uRPWcMJqpf “They haven’t been filling jobs for two years now and that reduced number was cut even more today,” she wrote. “There are five reporters left covering DC.” PREVIOUSLY: The Los Angeles Times has started to give layoff notices to employees today, as the publication grapples with financial struggles that has seen the departure of top leadership.
Matt Pearce, the president of Media Guild West, wrote on X/Twitter that 94 guild members were “being notified of intended layoff today, or about one-fourth of our whole membership.” “This total, while devastating, is nonetheless far lower than the total number of Guild layoffs initially expected last week.” Reporters started posting that they had received notices this morning.
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