Meet the new L.A. Times, same as the old L.A. Times

Media: Throwing gasoline on the unemployment fire

Three L.A. area community newspapers will shut their doors, in a few days, by order of their owner, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, who also owns the Los Angeles Times. Two of the papers, the Burbank Leader and the Glendale News-Press, survived the Great Depression, two world wars and numerous recessions, but could not survive the cost-cutting of the LA. Times.

Billionaire Soon-Shiong could have gotten the papers and their workers through these tough times with part of his lunch money, but like capitalists everywhere, he’d rather put 10 union journalists and four other workers out on the streets.

There is a contradiction between the needs of community service by local papers, and the needs of the wealthy to make even more money. Not only were the Leader, the News-Press and, for good measure, the La Cañada Valley Sun, given a death sentence, but irreparable harm was done to those communities. A local paper ties people and their town together in a way the world wide web cannot do. It gives people a sense of identity, of pride in themselves and their neighbors. That’s all gone now.

Next time you read an article in the Times about unemployment, unions, or human dignity, remember that this big corporation is not part of the solution, but part of the problems.

Thanks to LAist for washing the Times dirty linen.