'Los Angeles Times' Offers Voluntary Buyouts, Pushes Digital Strategy

The California Times, the company that owns the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune, announced it will offer employees with more than two years of employment voluntary buyouts.

No layoffs are planned as part of the strategy.

The buyouts are part of a plan to modernize the staff and equip the newspapers with the skill sets needed to succeed in today’s publishing environment.

The company released details of the plan to employees via email, which stated: “We know that to build a sustainable business and ensure our ability to provide vital journalism for decades to come, we need to move swiftly to make our product more digital, more nimble, and more attractive to loyal and new audiences. Buyouts will help us accelerate this process."

The email was obtained by CNN Business, which reported the news late yesterday.

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The memo noted that more than $100 million has been invested in the company’s staff, technology and infrastructure since being acquired by biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.

Last summer, the L.A. Times revealed  its digital subscriptions had slowed. The paper had set the goal of doubling its digital subscriptions in 2019 to reach 300,000, but netted just 13,000. In March 2019, Soon-Shiong shared that he wants to reach 5 million digital subscribers.

Tribune Publishing closed its sale of the L.A. Times for $500 million in 2018.
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