L.A. Register Closure Eliminates 29 Newsroom Positions
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The final edition of the L.A. Register awaits purchase on newsstands Downtown. (Celeste Alvarez/ Neon Tommy)
“The restructuring of Los Angeles Register yesterday resulted in the elimination of 29 newsroom positions,” noted Eric Morgan, the OC Register Communication Manager.
According to Morgan, the OC Register currently has 220 staffers. Although he didn’t comment on how many L.A. Register employees were being relocated to their O.C. offices, LA Weekly has suggested that several O.C. Register employees, including many award-winning veterans might be in danger of losing their jobs because their salaries are higher than those from the LA Register who were more recently hired.
In the memo sent to staff on Monday, Freedom Communications co-owner Aaron Kushner acknowledged the upcoming layoffs.
LA Register thanks loyal subscriber in its final edition. (Celeste Alvarez/ Neon Tommy)
"For those that will be leaving, we say thank you. We are most grateful for their service to the community,” Kushner said memo.
Kushner also claimed that the paper would close so the company he co-owns with Eric Spitz can focus its markets in Orange County, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
However, the OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano contends that the closure actually came from financial obligations to The Los Angeles Times. Kushner owed the Times millions of dollars for distribution of the LA and OC Register, according to Arellano.
Reported through unnamed sources, Arellano said Kushner hadn't paid his bill to the Times and as a result a couple of week ago the Times issued an ultimatium that the would be recouping the cost by any means necessary.
Having followed Kushner’s highs and lows at Freedom Communications for the beginning, Arellano said he thought the best thing Kushner could do for the OC Register was to sell it and go back to Boston, his hometown. Unfortunately for Arellano and other critics, it doesn’t seem like that will be happening anytime soon.
Some of the Register's staff took to Twitter to express their feelings about the layoff:
Reach Staff Reporter Celeste Alvarez here or follow her on Twitter here.
