That didn’t take long ... Dean Baquet, the editor of the Los Angeles Times in the spotlight for standing up to Tribune brass on demands for more job cuts and urging other editors to do the same, has been forced out. The move comes a month after publisher Jeff Johnson was replaced unceremoniously with Tribune corporate vet David Hiller after he and Baquet went public with their dismay at being asked for deeper job cuts. Baquet’s successor is also an import—Jim O’Shea, managing editor of the Chicago Tribune. According to the LAT, Baquet’s departure comes after Hiller made it clear that substantial cuts were on the way. The moves underscore Tribune management’s determination to further slice costs and to be viewed as firmly in control, particularly while the company is seeking bids for the whole or for individual assets like the LAT. Via Romenesko, LAObserved has a lengthy memo from Hiller: “Jim has also been leading the efforts in Chicago to re-invent how the newsroom operates in the new 24/7 multi-channel environment, and he will not miss a beat in jumping into the work actively going on here.”
WSJ: “As Tribune’s problems have deepened, a host of wealthy and well-connected prospective bidders have made public their desires to pick off a few of its 11 daily newspapers. Most coveted is the Los Angeles Times, for which at least three wealthy Los Angelenos have expressed interest: Entertainment mogul David Geffen, real-estate magnate Eli Broad and Ron Burkle, who made his fortune from supermarkets. The Times generates an estimated $250 million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and could be valued at $2 billion or more.”
Related: LAT Starts Innovation Project Compared To Making Atomic BombTimes