Los Angeles Times' new management style and hiring practices reflect the tough economics of the newspaper business today, Times Editor Michael Parks told a skeptical yet engaged audience of Journalism School faculty and students on February 25.
Readership is down.
People are getting their news in other ways, and we have to find a way to make the paper more relevant to the reader. Parks' comments were part of a spirited two-hour dialogue initiated by the school's faculty, who last spring wrote Parks expressing concern about the Times' direction under the leadership of new publisher Mark Willes. Specifically, they questioned Willes' business strategy, which many believe undermines the sacred separation of the editorial and business sides of the paper. Faculty and students were also displeased with the Times' habit of using unpaid interns. The Times is the only thing that brings those communities together.