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A little bit different view of the LA Times building.
If you had any doubts that the Los Angeles Times newsrooms (all of them) are consumed with one topic right now — whether to take the buyout or stay at an institution with an uncertain future — this memo from assistant managing editor Shelby Grad should sway you. Grad oversees news gathering in Los Angeles and the bureaus in California, and his note seeks to assure his people that it will be all right after the upcoming exodus. Of course, what it actually accomplishes is confirming for everyone that the expected number of departures is big enough that Grad says it will require a "rebuild" of the Metro newsroom.
The last day to apply for the buyout is close of business Friday. It's unknown how many staffers will be allowed to leave, but the sense I hear from the newsroom is that they want people to go. Especially the older, more expensive staffers.
A lot of veterans and familiar names are known to be leaning toward accepting the buyout offer, but it's an intensely personal decision. (I went through it myself a couple of times. Not fun.) This time, of course, it comes with the assumption that this will be the last time that a severance offer that peaks at one year of salary will be offered, and that the Times could be a very different workplace after the dust settles. There's a new publisher in town whose charge is to cut costs. There may be some new top editors, and some familiar names may be leaving that give the Times brand what heft it retains from the glory years. Some may even turn up as competitors to the Times. Certainly the LA Times will be a leaner, cheaper, less experienced organization that will be asked to do more, and will still be talked about constantly as a takeover target as the value of the Chicago-based parent Tribune Publishing continues (probably) to drop.
Grad's memo confirms what staffers are saying in the various forums where they gather to swap buyout intelligence. They have until Friday to apply for the buyout, then the company has a week or so to decide if you are accepted. Even if you are accepted, you can change your mind up until Nov. 25. (If, for instance, those other jobs you are pursuing don't come through.) Any severance will be paid as a continuation of salary, and during the time a buyout-ist is receiving the salary they still keep health benefits.
Again, I'm not going to be publishing the names of people who apply for the buyout unless they actually leave, and take some step to make their status known, or their exit is newsworthy (such as a columnist or senior editor or a prominent byline ) or for some reason becomes controversial. The resignations of a lot of newsroom veterans will probably force some reorganizing of the place, and those changes may be post-worthy.
BTW, I checked a couple of sources to see if the memo I received is the whole enchilada as delivered to staffers and it is. I would love to know what Grad was going to say in the sentence that begins "It's going to require us…" but in the memo people received it's apparently just the fragment we see.
From: Grad, Shelby
Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 11:34 AM
To: yyMetro
Subject: An Update: Going Forward
As you know, Friday is the deadline to submit paperwork for the buyout. Some of you have asked questions about this and a few other things:Submitting the buyout paperwork is non-binding. You can still decide not to take the buyout and stay after you submit it.
For those who accept the buyout, your last day will be in late November. In some cases, the paper might ask some employees to stay a bit later to help with the transition. But it’s unclear how many people with get this invitation, so you should assume going in that late November will be your end date.
Many of you are rightly wondering about how we are going to deal with the losses from the buyout. We are beginning to map that out now. And as I’ve said before, we are confident we can rebuild a Metro newsroom that continues to focus on agenda-setting journalism, watchdog reporting and aggressive coverage of California. It’s going to require us [sic]
Finally, we want to thank all of you for producing such stellar journalism during these tough times. The day-to-day storytelling remains so strong, from our Column Ones and digital breaking news coverage to the California section and newsletters (including our new one for politics). The firm of Abcarian, Banks, Lopez & Skelton continue to be at the center of the California conversation.
But we wanted to highlight some watchdog stories that ran over just the last two weeks:
*The #3 official in the Sheriff’s Department stepping down after we revealed his purchase of a stolen car.
*Tough science reporting that questioned Gov. Brown’s repeated linking of climate change and brush fires.
*An extensive examination of spending in the UC system that has generated much buzz on campuses and beyond.
*A data analysis revealing the grim toll high-speed police chases take on innocent bystanders.
*Our ongoing scrutiny of LAPD crime statistics found the department had undercounted crime for nearly a decade.
*L.A.’s passage of the nation’s tough quake laws, capping our extensive reporting on how the city has ignored the risks.And this is just two weeks worth of work. As projects season approaches, we have a series of important pieces – investigative, narrative, explanatory – coming. Together, this is the strongest evidence we can submit that Metro will get through this.
Sincerely,
Shelby, Mary Ann and Matt
Mary Ann and Matt are deputy editor Mary Ann Meek and city editor Matt Lait.
