Worst of the <i>Los Angeles Times</i>
I love that story! Especially how that one LI town went Democrat for the
first time since 1910! Ah, local politics ...
But for sheer, holiday-spirit drama, you just can't beat The Otis Chandler
Story today. I was practically weeping--weeping, I tell you--when I read the
excerpt from the letter the former, great publisher of the Los Angeles
Times wrote, castigating Mark H. Willes, chairman and chief executive of
Times Mirror Co., and company for the sheer, unmitigated crap (my paraphrasing
here) the ex-cereal magnate has been pulling since he took over the now hapless
paper. The letter was read aloud to a cheering L.A. Times newsroom on
Wednesday, and I like to imagine Willes cowering in his office seriously
stroking his greased mustaches à la Snidely Whiplash. (Note: Willes does not,
as far as I know, have a mustache; this is how my brain works, as you
know.)
In any event, for those of you not following along at home, Chandler was a
lion of American journalism who during his 20-year tenure remade the
Times from a local paper to one of the four important newspapers every
thinking human ought to read every day (quick: Name the other three!). Sadly,
he was forced to retire from the board of directors of Times Mirror Co. last
year when he turned 70. And even sadder, he was the last thing that stood
between the paper and calamity. The Times has steadily lost its place
among the great rags, thanks mainly to the laughingstock way in which it has
has been "reinvented." How?
Let Chandler summarize:
I am well aware of the ill-advised steps that have been taken by the current
management ... such as the unrealistic and impossible goal of adding a million
circulation, which was announced when Mr. Willes came in. Many of these new
marketing programs that were first announced by Mr. Willes have been tried and
appear to be unsuccessful. For example, he suggested that the breaking down of
the traditional editorial/business wall and appointing of business managers was
going to result in new growth to the paper in terms of additional advertising
volume, possible circulation growth, and increased profitability. Mr. Willes
was quoted at the time in many national media stories as saying he was going to
reinvent newspapers, inferring that the traditional system was outdated and was
in effect a dinosaur concept.
Oh dear. The letter goes on like that for about five glorious, Frank
Capra-esque pages. Journalists everywhere ought to frame it. There ought to be
a parade in honor of Chandler and dummies of Willes burned in effigy. Ah, but
the marketing department would never allow it, would they? Last words from
Chandler, my pet; it's been great e-mailing you. See you at supper:
One cannot successfully run a great newspaper like the Los Angeles
Times with executives in the top two positions, both of whom have no
newspaper experience at any level. Successfully running a newspaper is not like
any other business.
