The Basic Problem With The LA Times — Trying To Sell A National Paper Locally

From Content Bridges:

When John [Carroll] and Dean [Baquet, then managing editor, now back at the New York Times] took over, they severely curtailed local reporting. They closed down most of the local zoned offices. They discontinued the Metro section and renamed it California. They eliminated a secondary zoned news insert produced by newer, less expensive journalists.

They threw the resources instead into national and foreign coverage.

At exactly the same moment, over those same years, [Publisher] John Puerner’s crew was whacking circulation north and south and east of L.A. They thought it was
too expensive. They abandoned any pretense of a national edition.

So with all eyes wide open, the business model and circulation model became
LA-centric and the editorial model became national. The LA Times was trying to sell it’s national-focused newspaper locally only.

The New York Times knows better….It is selling a national newspaper nationally.

The LA Times tried to sell a national newspaper locally only.