from deadlinehollywooddaily.com
Not surprisingly, but still dishearteningly, Los Angeles Times editor Dean Baquet has been forced out of the top spot at the LAT, barely a month after publisher Jeffrey Johnson was similarly pushed out the door. Both Baquet and Johson earned the fierce loyalty of their staff late this summer after digging in their heels against encroaching cuts at the LAT; Deadline Hollywood's Nikki Finke even reported that the top editorial staffers at the LAT had a tacit 'suicide pact' pegged to Baquet's tenure at the top.
The announcement was to have been made Thursday, according to a story slapped up on the LAT website this afternoon, by media writer James Rainey, who also wrote the LAT story about Johnson's ouster. "Believe me, I didn't want it to come out this way," Baquet said in an email to staff, according to LA Observed. He asked that the staff gather for a 3pm (PST) meeting, and said: "And do me an even bigger favor. Let's do a hell of a job on the election tonight."
Barely two weeks ago, Baquet urged his fellow editors to resist the pressure of newsroom cuts from owners on high and to fight to preserve the quality of journalism.
Update via Gawker: New EIC is Chicago Tribune managing editor James O'Shea; recall that Johnson's replacement was then-Chicago Tribune publisher David Hiller.
