LA Times Loses 3rd Editor to Budget Disputes

It's déjà vu for bigwigs: O'Shea is forced out after refusing cutbacks
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 21, 2008 4:32 AM CST
LA Times Loses 3rd Editor to Budget Disputes
Samuel "Sam" Zell, Chairman, Equity Group Investments, Tribune Corporation, led an $8.2 billion buyout of Tribune Co. The media company owns 11 daily newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, 23 television stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)   (Associated Press)

The top editor of the Los Angeles Times has been fired after a confrontation with publisher David Hiller over $4 million in planned newsroom cutbacks, reports AP. James O'Shea's departure after just 14 months marks the third time in less than three years that the paper's top editor has left over budget issues. Hiller denies that he fired O'Shea and said his departure was part of a "reorganization."

O'Shea is quoted in his paper as saying he and Hiller "did not share a common vision for the future." When Shea replaced the last editor, he told staffers not to consider him a "hatchet man," and vowed to ensure the Times would "remain a force in journalism." The shuffling follows last month's $8.2 billion buyout of the Times' parent firm, the Tribune Co., in a deal engineered by Sam Zell. (More James O'Shea stories.)

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