The Biz Blog

I have by now read a book's worth of stories on newsroom cuts and written as much myself. Still, the drama at a Long Beach City Council meeting March 4 must be one of the oddest.

 

If you missed the account in Romenesko, here are the particulars: MediaNews had announced that the Long Beach, Calif., Press-Telegram's copy and design desks would be moved to its sister paper, The Daily Breeze of Torrance. The Press-Telegram's publisher and managing editor were laid off, their oversight transferred to counterparts at The Daily Breeze.

 

A rude shock perhaps, but these moves had already been field-tested in a series of such consolidations at Dean Singleton's MediaNews properties in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

The City Council, already miffed by a series of earlier reductions in news staff and space, decided to discuss the option of pulling city advertising in protest.

 

About 50 Press-Telegram newsroom employees, past and present, showed up for the meeting, according to the Guild newsletter's account. Copy editor Megan Lasswell said she was unsure whether she would still have a job after the reshuffle to Torrance. She wept as she told city council members, "I know how to spell your names."

 

Executive Editor Rich Archbold, who will remain in Long Beach, was in the awkward position of telling council members that pulling advertising would be a terrible idea, ultimately leading to more cuts in the news budget.    

 

So it has come to this in Long Beach -- news-side people pleading for business-side mercy before the City Fathers. At least the Press-Telegram still had the moxie to cover the story.