In wake of LATimes changes, comments on newspapers and profits

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In wake of LATimes changes, comments on newspapers and profits
By Peter Johnson in USAToday
Jul 20, 2005, 09:30

Project on Excellence in Journalism director Tom Rosenstiel, New York Times Editor Bill Keller and newspaper analyst Tom Morton react to the departure of L.A. Times Editor John Carroll. They talk about profit pressures, and what distinguishes newspapers from blogs.

John S. Carroll, one of the USA's most respected newspaper editors, stepped down from the Los Angeles Times Wednesday amid circulation declines and pressure to cut costs.

The Times said Carroll, 63, would retire next month. But newspaper analysts say his departure was sped by demands from Times owner the Tribune Co. to trim his editorial budget to bring profit margins in line with those of other newspaper companies. They say Carroll had had enough battling his Chicago-based superiors.

That's part of the story, Carroll said Wednesday. "I've been concerned about cost-cutting, but I have been editor of three big papers starting in 1979, and I'm beginning to wonder if there is life on the outside. I intend to find out." He plans an "open-ended vacation. When time comes that I'm getting bored, I'll find work."

On June 8, Carroll announced that layoffs could follow a voluntary buyout if enough employees didn't step up and that his goal was to "get through this period in a way that is fair, humane and swift."

Carroll said Wednesday that he was not pressured to step down. "I do think a lot of editors have become distracted by business concerns. I frankly don't have to spend a lot of time on budgets, just a lot of worry on budgets."

Carroll's departure, says former Los Angeles Times reporter Tom Rosenstiel, should alarm an industry on the cusp of evolutionary change.

"At a time when newspapers need to make a major long-term transition into the new kind of online journalism, companies are driving off the old-school editors. They burn out because they spend all their time on budgets, not journalism," says Rosenstiel, who heads Columbia University's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Carroll's departure is all the more significant, Rosenstiel says, because he "had the respect of the hard-boiled editors and investigative reporters, but he managed to thrive and triumph in the more corporate environment of today."

New York Times editor Bill Keller says that if Carroll left over money pressures, "it's a tragedy. A big reason the polls show newspapers losing credibility is they refuse to make the investments in reporting and editing required to sustain high quality. Readers know when you're cheapening the product.

"We've only got two things that distinguish us from blogs," Keller says. "One is we have reporting staffs who actually go out and see stuff and are trained professionals. And we have standards which are enforced by editors -- you double-check things, make sure it's right -- and all that costs money. If you aren't giving people the basics -- good reliable news, smart analysis and in-depth investigations -- then all they're going to see is the same stuff they can get on cable TV."

Industry analyst John Morton says theTimes suffers from a weak local ad market. Tribune, which bought the paper in 2000, has been keen on increasing profit -- "uncomfortable stuff for editors."

Tribune profit margins fell from 22% in 2003 to 18% in 2004. That margin was far lower than newspaper companies such as Gannett (publisher of USA TODAY), Scripps Howard and Knight Ridder, but higher than The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Tribune's second-quarter profit more than doubled. The company cut 1,000 jobs to counter a 9.1% drop in circulation revenue, lower ad revenue and higher newsprint costs. The Times' circulation has dropped 6.5% daily and 7.9% Sunday over the past year, reflecting declines at newspapers nationwide. Circulation is now 907,997 weekday and 1,253,849 Sunday.

Tribune also publishes The Chicago Tribune, Newsday, The Hartford Courant and The Baltimore Sun.

Marilyn Thompson, editor of Knight Ridder's Lexington Herald-Leader, which Carroll once edited, says that "budget factors are a constant factor in my job, and it can be draining. But there are huge financial considerations, and we have to face the fact that we're in a struggling business, which is hard for us to accept on the front lines."

Managing editor Dean Baquet, 48, whom Carroll appointed five years ago when he became editor, will succeed him. "I think the paper under him will be first-rate for a good long while," Carroll says. Baquet worked previously at The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Carroll came to the Times from The Sun in 2000 after a scandal that involved mixing editorial and advertising functions in reporting Los Angeles' new Staples Center sports arena. Morale was at a low, but Carroll quickly revived it. "He made it all work," Rosenstiel says.

Under Carroll, the Times won 13 Pulitzer Prizes, including one this year for a report on a health-care center that endangered lives.

In a controversial move, Carroll also ran a series of articles in the countdown to the 2003 California governor's race detailing claims by women that Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger had groped them.

Schwarzenegger acknowledged some improper behavior, while Republicans charged the paper with liberal bias, and more than 1,000 readers canceled subscriptions.

Carroll brushed aside the charges, saying the allegations were credible and reflected on Schwarzenegger's character. "In the long run, I believe this will strengthen the paper's relationship with the readers," he told the San Francisco Chronicle.