One of Sam Zell's big theories for newspapers is to get more and more local.

While Newsday was still under Mr. Zell's grasp, he managed to dismantle its national desk, and dispense with nearly every non-Long Island beat.

Even though it's finally out of his control and into the, uh, gentle hands of the Dolans, the new owners have shown no interest is straying from that philosophy. Now we're starting to learn the cost.  read more »

Los Angeles Times staffers have not been blessed with the same good news that the New York Times newsroom received today.

As rumored, Russ Stanton, editor of The Los Angeles Times, announced this morning that 75 people are being laid off. It's the third round of job cuts for the paper this year, and will lower the newsroom head count to about 650 people. Their newsroom had 1,200 people seven years ago.

LA Observed has the memo:

Colleagues,

The growing economic downturn is forcing us to undergo another round of job reductions and cost cuts. I deeply regret to report that today, 75 of our friends, colleagues and capable staff members in Editorial will be told that they are losing their jobs.

 read more »

As warned, The Los Angeles Times has completed its redesign.

And it is much less splashy than The Chicago Tribune's was.

It's a point that Lee Abrams, the chief innovation director for Tribune, mentioned in a memo to his staffers. "It will be quite a bit less dramatic than our other newspapers, but has some wonderful new elements."

One change included: removing "staff writer" next to a byline and replaced with "Joe Smith / Reporting from London." Today's front-page has a "Reporting from South Africa" tagline on Page 1, clearly a tactical move by Russ Stanton, the paper's editor, demonstrating that, yes, the paper's staff may have been cut in half over the last seven years, but it still has reporters abroad.  read more »

Kevin Roderick at LA Observed got his hands on some of the images that Los Angeles Times is handing to focus groups on their proposed redesign.

One thing we noticed (and sort of like): The L.A. Times "staff writer" tagline below a reporter's byline is done; it'll be replaced by something that says, BY NED PARKER / REPORTING FROM BAGHDAD.

It definitely steals something from a TV reporter's handbook, but it still works.

Anyway, the proposed Times' redesign looks a lot more tolerable than the Chicago Tribune's.

Los Angeles Times staffers, both current and old, are suing Sam Zell, the owner of the paper's parent company, the Tribune Company.

Essentially, they're arguing his big mouth has cheapened the brand of the paper, and served only his own self-interest.

Dan Neil, a plantiff in the lawsuit, is a Pulitzer-winner whom Media Mob talked to back in February. Back then, he didn't seem to mind Mr. Zell. "There’s a certain lasciviousness descending on the newsroom—I just look forward to using rude words in everyday conversation,” he said in the interview back then.

Another is Henry Weinstein, the former courts reporter for the paper. We spoke to him back then too, and he didn't have an opinion of Zell.  read more »

It's an incredible thing: Hit the submit button, and after several hours of elaborate and costly printing and distribution, your content is before the reader! At about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, if you wanted a copy of the morning papers in the Tribune section of Media Pavilion 2 there were still plenty of choices. The reporters sitting in here are filing material out to The Baltimore Sun, The Hartford Courant, The Sun-Sentinel, The L.A. Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel and The Daily Press. And very few of them are reading actual paper.

By the way, also sitting in their tent is the orphaned Newsday.

Jim Romenesko has posted a press release from the Chicago Tribune announcing the promotion of Jane Hirt to managing editor. Ms. Hirt had been the editor of RedEye, the Tribune's young, hip [sic] paper, not to be mistaken with Fox News' young, hip [sic] late night show where bloggers are stars. (In fact, the Tribune Company tried to get Fox News to change the show's name in 2007.)

Ms. Hirt was named to Chicago Business' "40 Under 40," in 2006, telling writer Gregory Meyer, "We know our audience is interested in reading a little bit about foreign and national news, but by far, our research and all our readers tell us that local news and pop-culture news is what they want.  read more »

Shortly after a magnitude-5.8 earthquake hit Los Angeles this afternoon, the L.A. Times Web site went down. Managing editor John Arthur explained in an (obviously dashed off given the circumstances) email to staff: "our website server is staggering because of heavy volume. the page actually has been updated and may load for soe people. keep refreshing."

We're talking to a few Times staffers via IM. Are people freaking out? "not so much on my floor. I was in the cafeteria and saw them filing out. they said it was 'standard,' that we had to [evacuate]. But I went back to my desk to get my cell, and everyone was here," one tapepd in. Another: "everyone is kinda joking now and getting back to work."

And now for the news!

Newsday, you're free of Sam Zell!

The $650 million transaction that has brought the Long Island daily into the hands of Charles and Jim Dolan closed today.

It should be cause for grand celebration. But then again, only days after the deal was announced, a Newsday reporter told The Observer, "People are so beaten down here there’s not much of anything that could cause much of a reaction."

Two and a half weeks ago Chris Hine, who this fall will enter his senior year at The University of Notre Dame, was saying his goodbyes to staffers he'd met at the beginning of his summer internship at the sports desk of The Los Angeles Times.

They'd been around at the beginning to help him out with stories, give him pointers, and occasionally have him make a call for a fresh take on a bit of news. And then, with one of the recent rounds of layoffs at the newspaper, they were gone, leaving the intern behind.

The firing of these mostly younger reporters - people practically straight out of college - hit home for Mr.  read more »