Commentary

Austin Beutner Wants You to Know He Was Fired

Usually when someone is shown the door in the corporate world, everyone covers it up with any number of misleading euphemisms to make it appear voluntary, including “mutual decision,” which makes it sound more like a Lifetime original movie than “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Or the old favorites: “quitting to spend more time with the family” and “exploring new opportunities.”

That’s why it’s so refreshing when someone just waves the dirty laundry out in public for everyone to see.

Austin Beutner, until Monday the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, joined this proud, unapologetic group with a lengthy post on Facebook, which began, “I am writing to let you know that I am leaving the Los Angeles Times, effective immediately. I am not departing by choice, nor is this some ‘mutual agreement’ on my part and Tribune Publishing. Tribune Publishing has decided to fire me. I am sorry you will read this on social media, but I no longer have access to my Times email.”

You certainly can’t accuse Beutner of burying the lede.

Over the course of the 1,316-word post, the former investment banker and Evercore Partners co-founder went on to detail the newspaper’s achievements under his leadership, including winning two Pulitzer Prizes and a high-profile relaunch of its business section.

As for the substance of his disagreements with Tribune’s bosses, Beutner painted a picture of a publisher sticking up for local media on principle, writing: “Cost-cutting alone is not a path to survival in the face of continued declines in print revenue and fierce competition in the digital world.”

However, The New York Times cites rumors that Beutner also clashed with Trib leadership over his resistance to central control from Chicago and his attempts to get Tribune to sell the LAT to billionaire Eli Broad. In the background of these conflicts may have been Beutner’s own political ambitions, perhaps extending to a run for governor of California.

Separately, Tribune announced that Timothy Ryan, currently publisher of The Baltimore Sun, will take over the top spot at LAT.

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