The OFS

Times Staff May Be Smaller,
But Is Just As Good, ME Says

By Bob Rawitch

L.A. Times Managing Editor Hector Becerra described to OFS a smaller, essentially virtual newsroom that may have some morale issues, but which he believes is nonetheless proportionately as good as any he has seen in his nearly 26 years at the newspaper.

The editorial staff is down to about 300 journalists and of necessity the smaller staff is structured more around beats than general assignment reporters, the paper’s first Latino managing editor told the OFS in a 90-minute lunchtime Zoom call on April 4.

(An unedited video of the call is online at https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/xnISnWSTA1Hw1nu3pcTFqtY746hKrj9oi2SNIG7RKnFrgPr0-VMQb5cqfyS10c8n.zzYDUcCMUdytKxvA; the passcode OFSLA0404! is required.)

Becerra acknowledged the history of the paper’s glory years, which at its peak had 1,200 editorial staffers. But he said the current staffing level reflects a series of drops over more than three decades and numerous ownership changes, including the disastrous Sam Zell era in which many of the paper’s physical assets were sold off, including the three printing plants.

Responding to questions about poor morale in the newsroom, Becerra did not deny the cumulative toll of working without a contract for three years, layoffs, and staff responses to controversial actions taken by owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.

In addition, he said, rebuilding morale is complicated by the effects of staff working largely remotely for the last five years because of Covid. Despite these challenges, he said he sees a  renewed “collegiality that binds us,” exemplified by the paper’s much-praised coverage of the massive wildfires earlier this year, and their aftermath.

Management last year tried to order the editorial staff to return to the newsroom at least two days a week, but the Guild unit objected, asserting that such a change in working conditions should be negotiated. A few weeks ago, President Chris Argentieri again ordered all staff back to the office four or five days a week. Negotiation sessions are ongoing, but thus far there is no indication whether a new agreement will be reached.

Becerra, who is not a negotiator but has sat in on these recent talks, said reporters do their best work they are in the field, not at a newsroom desk, and therefore would likely not be in the office every day. But, he added, “sooner or later, I’d like to see a newsroom that is vibrant again.”

In terms of the paper’s mission, he said The Times is “largely a California paper,” but noted that California is basically a “nation state … of tremendous economic and cultural import.” With a smaller staff, he said editors must constantly trying to improvise ways to best cover the region, but “the paper is still the most influential source of news west of the Mississippi River.”

He acknowledged that layoffs and buyouts have resulted in a huge loss of talent and familiarity with California resulting. While this experience and expertise cannot be replaced, he said he is proud of a much younger staff that has its own strengths, including knowledge of and use of social media.

Becerra said he thought the loss of subscribers precipitated by Dr. Soon-Shiong’s decision last November to pull an editorial endorsement of Kamala Harris for president had likely stopped, but he did not have any hard numbers.

He said that more conservative voices were being published on the Op Ed pages as the owner attempts to replace the Times editorial board, but that the pages are not dramatically different. He added that proposals to include a “bias meter” for opinion pieces never materialized, for which he was glad.

Asked about utilization of Artificial Intelligence at the paper, he said it is used to “annotate” columnists and other opinion pieces in the digital edition. AI is not used to write stories, he said, and he would never accept that.

Competition for the paper comes from everywhere, he said, including other publications like the San Francisco Chronicle, the Daily News, and the New York Times, which he noted has a growing presence in the state. But he said it also comes from blogs and websites like Politico, “which has taken some of our people.”

But not all other news sources are competitive, he said, noting that the paper has cooperated with or republished stories from Kaiser Health News, Cal Matters and Pro Publica.

Becerra said The Times must continue to both inform and entertain its readership, though some of the non-readers it wants to attract may want more entertainment than news. In an effort to attract younger readers, who generally have not read mainstream media over the last 20 years, he said he encourages his younger reporters to reach out to their peers for ideas about what they would want to read.

“We just have to diversify our readership,” he said.