USLA ToTimesDay

I've become slightly totally obsessed tracking media layoffs -- according to PaperCuts, the casualty toll was more than 2000 in January alone, including 300 from the Los Angeles Times, which seems hell-bent  to see which it can drive away fastest: readers, subscribers or advertisers.

The paper's latest move is to discontinue its decades-old Metro section (which has been called "California" in recent years), folding all local coverage inside Section One and mushing it together with national, international and op-ed. From PaperCuts, here's the letter from publisher Eddy Hartenstein:

Beginning March 2nd the paper will be presented in four main news sections:

A/Main News will be repositioned to present local, national and international coverage and opinion together - as each informs, impacts and shapes the others in our everyday lives. The California section report will lead A, followed by The Nation, The World and then Opinion. The result will combine the stories and reporting of our two most widely-read print sections into one cohesive section.

Business will be the second section in the paper, and the report will be enhanced by bringing back the “Company Town” feature, which will serve as the anchor for our “business of entertainment” coverage. The obituaries and weather pages will remain at the back of this new B section.

Sports will be the third section, and we’ll be moving the classified advertising pages to the back of this new C section.

Calendar will be the fourth section, and this move allows its deadlines to be pushed deep into the evening (aka “second-daily”), allowing us to make our primary space for entertainment coverage more news-driven. This will enrich this current “must read” section even further, enabling us to add features such as overnight reviews.

And it struck me where I'd seen this exact same lineup before:

The new L.A. Times:

News/Opinion • Business • Sports • Calendar

The old (and new) USA Today:

News/Opinion • Business • Sports • Life

The only thing missing is the spiffy weather map, and the color-coding. I don't think the Times can compete with USA Today's weather map, but Calendar will look lovely in purple.

Comments

[Jil]

Oddly enough, in spite of all the carnage around it, my main outlet is expanding -- it's putting correspondents back into offices overseas. And this in a city that has four major dailies and two daily freebies (owned by the majors, and I'm now picking up some pocket change with "ours" via reprints).

[Kevin]

That's great, Jil. It sounds like they managed their money well in good times and didn't forget their main mission.

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