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The Los Angeles Times said on Tuesday that it would lay off about 115 journalists, slashing its newsroom by more than 20 percent after a tumultuous few weeks that saw top editors depart and workers walk off the job.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of The Los Angeles Times, said in an interview with his paper that it was losing $30 million to $40 million a year and needed to make more progress in building a larger audience.
“It is indeed difficult to reflect upon the recent tumultuous years, during which our business faced significant challenges, including losses that surpassed $100 million in operational and capital expenses,” Dr. Soon-Shiong said, noting that the paper had not done layoffs in the first years of the pandemic.
Dr. Soon-Shiong added that since he had bought The Times in 2018, “we have invested almost a billion dollars, underscoring our dedication to preserving its legacy and securing its future,” though he did not specify how he had arrived at that figure.
A spokeswoman for The Times had no immediate comment.
The announcement ends uncertainty about the extent of the cuts, after negotiations were held between the union and Times management. On Friday, hundreds of journalists walked off the job for the day in the first newsroom-organized work stoppage in The Times’s 142-year history, protesting the planned layoffs.
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