NSDTCM:NEWSPAPERS:L.A. TIMES
SOURCE:VARIETY.COM/BUSINESS STORIES

L.A. Times editor O'Shea ousted

Departure follows that of Dean Baquet

The L.A. Times newsroom was hoping for a honeymoon period under new Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell after two years of management turmoil, but word spread Sunday that editor James O'Shea had been fired after refusing to implement $4 million in budget cuts.

O'Shea, a 28-year Tribune veteran, was fired following a confrontation earlier this month with publisher David Hiller, the Los Angeles Times reported on its website Sunday. O'Shea's departure was expected to be announced this week, but the news broke Sunday on the Wall Street Journal's website.

L.A. Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan declined to comment on the matter, while a Tribune spokesman referred calls to Sullivan. The Times reported that O'Shea's dispute with Hiller over the order to slice $4 million out of the newsroom's $120 million budget came to a head on Jan. 7.

O'Shea's departure comes just a month after Chicago-based Tribune was taken private in a complex $8.2 billion employee-ownership deal led by real estate magnate Zell.

SOURCE:VARIETY.COM

P.S. TO MY FRIEND ALEX WHO WORKS AT L.A. TIMES