Bombshell report details worries of a 'shadow' newsroom, turmoil at the Los Angeles Times

Bryan Logan

Jan 27, 2018, 10:03 IST

Bombshell report details worries of a 'shadow' newsroom, turmoil at the Los Angeles Times

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

A comprehensive report published by HuffPo on Friday details claims that Tronc, the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, is hiring a "shadow" team of non-union journalists in a move that could threaten the jobs of newly unionized employees at the newspaper.
According to the report, Tronc could be developing a contributor network within the LA Times. The new group allegedly reports to the company's business division, prompting worries of redundancies with the main newsroom.
The report which cites multiple current and former employees, alleges that some newsroom staffers are being targeted by management over suspected leaks, which led to one editor being suspended and escorted off the premises.

Some employees at the Los Angeles Times are reportedly facing new uncertainty only days after the newspaper's editorial staff voted to unionize, HuffPo reported on Friday.

Tronc, which publishes the LA Times, is developing a separate entity within the company and hiring a team of editors who will oversee a group of contributors, HuffPo reported. Business Insider advertising reporter Tanya Dua wrote last week that such a model, which for years had been a proven way for publishers to scale quickly and affordably, has since gone out of fashion.

According to HuffPo, the new entity - called the L.A. Times Network - exists on the company's business side, prompting concerns about potential conflicts with editorial staffers. Journalists hired for the new company have been working under the radar, HuffPo reported, and had not been formally introduced to editorial staff.

The new group works on the second floor, one level below the LA Times' main newsroom. Employees cited by HuffPo said they fear Tronc may be trying to create a redundant, "shadow" newsroom of non-union employees as a precursor to layoffs of newly unionized journalists.

Additionally, employees alleged that some staffers were being targeted by management over suspected leaks, with some employees saying they feared the company was spying on their phones and computers. Those fears were magnified, according to HuffPo, after one senior LA Times editor was recently suspended and escorted off the premises.

According to HuffPo, that editor, Kimi Yoshino, had previously edited an investigative piece about the business relationship between Disney and the city of Anaheim, where two Disney theme parks are located. Yoshino is widely respected in the LA Times newsroom, according to staffers cited by HuffPo, but the Disney story allegedly upset editor-in-chief Lewis D'Vorkin, who current and former LA Times employees described as "caustic" and "highly critical" of Yoshino.

"He's at war with the entire staff. It's incredible," one employee reportedly said.