LA Times cuts more jobs as money troubles continue

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The Los Angeles Times continues to face significant workforce reductions, with its latest round of layoffs targeting the business operations following recent newsroom departures.

Multiple employees from the operations and communications departments were dismissed this week, including Hillary Manning, who served as Vice President of Communications, according to reporting by Oliver Darcy shared in The Wrap.

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When approached by TheWrap, Los Angeles Times representatives did not provide an immediate response regarding the situation.

This latest reduction follows the newspaper’s January announcement of plans to eliminate at least 115 positions, representing over 20% of its newsroom workforce – marking one of the most substantial staff reductions in the publication’s 143-year existence. The cuts affected various departments, from senior editorial positions to photography and video production teams.

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Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the publication’s owner and biotech billionaire, explained that these measures were implemented because the newspaper could not sustain annual losses of up to $40 million without seeing growth in advertising and subscription revenue.

The Los Angeles Times isn’t alone in facing such challenges. The past year has seen numerous major media organizations implementing similar measures, including The Washington Post, NPR, CNN, and Vox Media.

According to employment firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, the news industry witnessed 2,681 job losses through November’s end – surpassing the total figures for both 2022 and 2021 combined.