Los Angeles Times Buying Out 56 Reporters' Contracts--Will Labor and Economic Justice Stories Go Uncovered?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Julia Rosen
Working Californians

The LA Times is buying out 56 reporters' contracts, including that of Nancy Cleeland, the paper's labor writer. She is leaving in "frustration with the paper's coverage of working people and organized labor, and a sad realization that the situation won't change anytime soon." Thankfully, the Huffington Post provided a platform for her to explain her decision and the massive failure of the LA Times to address issues of great concern to regional residents, their target market.

It's awkward to criticize an old friend, which I still consider the Times to be, but I think the question of how mainstream journalists deal with the working class is important and deserves debate. There may be no better setting in which to examine the issue: The Los Angeles region is defined by gaping income disparities and an enormous pool of low-wage immigrant workers, many of whom are pulled north by lousy, unstable jobs. It's also home to one of the most active and creative labor federations in the country. But you wouldn't know any of that from reading a typical issue of the L.A. Times, in print or online. Increasingly anti-union in its editorial policy, and celebrity -- and crime-focused in its news coverage, it ignores the economic discontent that is clearly reflected in ethnic publications such as La Opinion.

The city deserves and needs coverage of these issues, the vibrant LA County Labor Federation, and the impact of public policy on labor. The focus on crime and celebrities marks a shift away from real journalism. They are seeking quick profitability, not a quality product.

The editorial room has taken a hard rightward shift in recent years. This has had a profound impact on the op-ed columns they publish and their ability to retain writers like Cleeland. Too often the editorial page is in direct conflict with the items published in other sections of the newspaper.