Chicago Tribune Company Needs to Be Stopped Now

More than once, I’ve written about the goings-on at the Los Angeles Times, but as you may have noticed, those posts have never seen the light of day. Why?

Before answering that question, let me bring you up to date:

• The Chandler family, which owns the largest chunk of the Tribune company, wants it sold or broken up.
• Virtually all of the newspapers in Tribune are losing circulation. The Los Angeles Times has been walloped especially hard.
• Tribune has repeatedly cut newsroom staffs across the chain. When Editor Dean Baquet resisted, he lost his job. Today. The publisher lost his job last month.

Needless to say, morale is extremely low at my old job.

This has all been going on for years, since the Tribune Company first bought the Times. So why haven’t I written about it until now?

“Because it has nothing to do with this blog,” I often argue to myself. Which is true, but certainly not a reason to avoid posting.

“Because I don’t want to hurt my chances of ever working for the Times again,” I rationalize. This is also true, though my wife is probably cringing as she reads those words.

“Because writing something here on this small blog won’t make a whit of difference.” Also true, but then again not a great reason.

“Because I don’t want to hurt my friends who still work there.” This argument is harder to ignore. I do have a lot of friends who are suffering under the Tribune yoke. But would writing about the Times really hurt them?

“Maybe I’m afraid my colleagues will stop telling me what is going on at the paper.” Pause. Maybe that’s it. I’m not sure.

What I am sure of is this: the damage the Tribune Company is doing to the Los Angeles Times – and all of its other newspapers for that matter – is real and dangerous to our society.

Despite all those smug bloggers out there who think newspapers are no longer needed, let’s remember a few things. Few of us can ferret out governmental corruption, complex societal issues and environmental problems as well as the print media. And few of us can compete with the millions of hits big-boy media gets every day.

Many bloggers would be well-served to work in a newsroom like the Los Angeles Times’ to understand the difference betweens hacks like me using other people’s content and those who originate it. After all, how many bloggers or electronic-media providers can reveal universities covering up failed organ-transplant programs? How many of us can stand up to corrupt a corrupt legal system like a newspaper can?

Journalists may seem offbeat, pompous or aloof, but they all have a common trait: they want you to know what is happening in the world. Some do a better job than others, but most have good intentions and similar goals.

I never cease to be amazed by bloggers who write that we don’t need newspapers anymore. It’s not ABOUT newspapers. It’s about an institution that feeds huge amounts of valuable information to the rest of us. Even if you don’t read the Los Angeles Times, New York Times or Washington Post, the information newspapers originate, trickles down to you through TV, radio, magazines and the guy at the water cooler.

Someday the blogosphere will grow to be as powerful a medium as print media. All the signs are there. But right now, it is highly decentralized and not ready to take on politicians, corporate leaders or cultural conflict without the help of print media. That day will come, but what happens in the meantime? Newspapers need to be strong long enough to make sure there is never a gap that leaves society uninformed and subsequently vulnerable.

The owners and managers of the Tribune Company simply do not understand this. They say the right words, but what they care about is stock and money.

Hey, I do too since I’m still holding on to some of their stock. But not at the expense of our society.

So it’s not the firing of Dean Baquet that is the real issue. Dean knew what he was doing when he stood up to the corporate leaders of the Tribune Company. He’s probably surprised that he held onto his job as long as he did.

But Dean also knew the Tribune Company was doing severe damage to the morale and spirit of the Times. He chose to make a stand about cuts because they were the most visible and damaging of all the Tribune Company's actions.

There were other morale-busters that cut across the entire newspaper, such as freezing pensions, shoving inferior computer systems down our throats and fostering rivalries among the Tribune papers. My favorite was a project requiring Tribune newspapers to micro-analyze each job in editorial. Instead of spending precious time doing journalism, months were spent on complex yet meaningless organizational charts.

So it’s not just about staff cuts. It’s about two different cultures. One is about money. The other is about societal good. The latter is losing.

I know. I was there. I saw it. I still see it. The Tribune Company has to be stopped.

Comments

[chip]

I love the political blogs, but you are totally correct on the role of actual newspapers. And I fully agree that newspapers are too important to be left to profit as the only value driving them.

Maybe the solution is for newspapers to be owned by nonprofit foundations; the Guardian in the UK is an example of that. The best journalism comes when journalists can do their own thing and don't have to worry about profit as the only important things; or the political / economic interest of the owners and shareholders ; or the fear that the right wingers will get them fired if they actually report the truth...

Anyway, it sounds unfortunate that the LA Times is being destroyed. They've had some excellent reporting on Iraq and other things too. Let's hope they find a local buyer for it.

[brettdl]

Yes, I agree that taking newspapers private is necessary. Ben Bagdikianhas been calling for this for decades. The model has worked well for the St. Pete Times, and it's expected that the San Diego Union Tribune will go this route.

There are local buyers out there, but whether the Chandler family and the Tribune Company will allow the paper be sold to the right people is difficult to say.

[Autumn]

I rather like newspapers. The make feel connected to the past and all the other people who read them. I like the way that paper feels on my fingers and the little smudges I still sometimes get on my finger tips.

Like books, I don't think they'll ever really die. I hope not anyway. This story makes me sad.

[brettdl]

All the signs indicate that big newspapers are going to shrink dramatically as print products. Smaller, local papers have held up better because the news they provide is still only available in print. That will eventually change too.

I say this as someone who decided to go into journalism at age 14. I think it will be sad to see print media greatly reduced. On the other hand, paper is amazingly wasteful, sometimes toxic and damaging to the environment (in terms of trees.) It's also expensive to print newspapers.

My biggest concern is about the form itself: influential, well-funded, organized journalists fighting to protect us from ourselves. Lose that and democracy is endangered.

[Pearl]

And don't forget the role of newspapers in lining birdcages, wrapping icky garbage and house-training puppies. I'd like to see you do THAT with a blog!

[brettdl]

Good point! I suppose I could just use my printer, though.

[Jessica]

I read a good article about the need for real journalists in the New Yorker a while back. Check it out if you have time.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060807fa_fact1

[brettdl]

Thanks!

[Media Blog]

I find it amazing that you write about "all these bloggers" without providing one single direct quote or one direct link.

Nothing like creating a straw man to buttress your argument, uh?