At a time when the shift toward the Internet and the corporate quest for increased profit are threatening the future of journalism, it’s inspiring to see the editor of a major daily newspaper paper push back.
Dean Baquet, the editor of the L.A. Times, is staging a high-profile mutiny against the suits at the Tribune Company, publicly refusing to make an estimated $10 million in cuts they are demanding. Baquet has said enough is enough and that a great newspaper cannot be corseted and expected to flourish.
Baquet has garnered support from his publisher Jeff Johnson; from his staff which is circulating a petition; and from an ad hoc committee of L.A. luminaries (including civic-minded billionaires and labor leaders) whose open letter to the Tribune Co. was published, yes, on the editorial page of the Times.
Some have called Baquet’s move a last-ditch “Alamo strategy.”
We’ll see on Thursday when the Tribune board meets in Chicago. Putting down Baquet’s rebellion will be at the top of the agenda.
Read the whole story on my blog.
