More Tumult in the Newspaper Business

Posted on Jul 15, 2008

Flickr / specialklikethecereal

Los Angeles Times Publisher David Hiller is best known for firing people. Now Hiller himself is out of a job. The ousting was announced as the Times braced for another devastating round of staff cuts.

Meantime, the editor of another Sam Zell-owned newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, announced her resignation as that paper continues its own gutting.

While many newspapers are struggling with a changing media landscape, the L.A. Times has suffered particularly devastating losses, both in ad revenue and personnel.

Los Angeles Times:

Los Angeles Times Publisher David D. Hiller resigned Monday after a 21-month tenure that encompassed the departures of two Times editors and plans for the sharpest staff and production cuts in the newspaper’s history amid a continuing slide in advertising revenue.

Although newspapers across the country have been suffering severe revenue declines, The Times’ performance under Hiller has been particularly disappointing. The paper has experienced the steepest drop in cash flow of any in the Tribune chain of 11 daily newspapers. Hiller also acquired a reputation among Tribune brass as an indecisive leader, according to senior Times executives; The Times has been without an advertising manager since February, for example.

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