LAT: MoveOn Protests LAT, Tribune Co. Job Reductions (petition link)

[DeepModem Mom]

MoveOn Protests Times, Tribune Co. Job Reductions
By James Rainey, Times Staff Writer


MoveOn.org has launched a petition drive to protest job reductions at the Los Angeles Times and three other Tribune Co. newspapers -- cutbacks that the liberal activist group said threaten the papers' ability to deliver "strong watchdog journalism."

MoveOn organizers said Friday, a little more than 24 hours into their Internet campaign, they had collected 17,125 signatures protesting buyouts that this week reduced the newsroom staff of the Times by 8 percent, or 85 positions. The group reported it had obtained a total of 10,360 signatures objecting to cuts at the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and Orlando Sentinel.

The organization -- previously better known for its opposition to the war in Iraq and support of liberal Democratic politicians -- plans to expand its protests to encompass other newspapers in an industry widely beset by layoffs.

Adam Green, civic communications director for MoveOn.org Civic Action, conceded that it might be difficult to reverse recent cuts but said the petitions will warn the Chicago-based media company against further newsroom retrenchment.

"The key for us is to get people to recognize that the Tribune's business model is at fundamental odds with a good journalism model," Green said....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-moveon3dec03,0,4245279.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=morenews


Link to MoveOn petition:

http://civic.moveon.org/latimescuts/index.html

[Solo_in_MD]

1. If they go out of business or bankrupt

That would not be a good journalism model either.

Hard copy news needs to figure out how to stay solvent as well as relevant, lest they be bought out by Rupert Murdoch or Rev Moon. That is looking to be harder to do these days