Newspapers on Newspapers

In our class discussions about the situation of the The Los Angeles Times this week, I began to wonder how this publication had been handling the news of its troubles with their publisher, David Hiller, and its corporate parent, the Tribune Co. To be completely honest would certainly undermine many readers' faith in the paper, but the situation cannot be simply overlooked. With several other news sources covering the ongoing staff and budget cuts, the Times can either ignore the problem, or step in with their own perspective.

In researching this particular situation, I found testaments from editors who had been in similar situations on Indiana University's School of Journalism web site. When confronted with being less than perfect in the eyes of the public, these newspapers took different routes from covering itself, to waiting for other outlets to cover what they could and let the publicity die down. The respective danger of these tactics of course, would be the bias that may come through in self-coverage, or being seen as cowardly in refraining to speak about it.

In order to find how the paper had been covering its in-office issues, I went to the Times's web page and used their search engine by simply typing "David Hiller." The first listing, surprisingly, turned out to be a memo from David Hiller to his staff announcing more cuts in the newsroom and asking their continued support for his actions. This only seemed to confirm the image of Hiller that was presented in The New York Times article classifying him as a people pleaser, but someone who will continue to carry out the Tribune Co.'s wishes.

The release of this memo raised even more questions for me. Should a newspaper be completely honest when they are put in the news in an unflattering light? How much should they be required to tell? Are there issues within the company that are too sensitive for public knowledge? The case of the Times highlights many ethical issues that are still being debated within its newsroom, and at papers across the country.