James E. O'Shea had always been seen as a Tribune Co. loyalist, which makes his forced departure from the L.A. Times and his final memo that much more remarkable:
Mr. O’Shea argued in the memo that The Times had shown several times — in revising its Sunday magazine, in adding fashion coverage — that it could generate more revenue and higher profit by offering more, not less.
“Even in hard times, wise investment — not retraction — is the long-term answer to the industry’s troubles,“ he wrote, while suggesting that Tribune executives have been unable to see the logic of anything but budget cuts.
“Journalists and not accountants should seize responsibility for the financial health of our newspapers,” he wrote, “so journalists can make decisions about the size of our staffs and how much news remains in our papers and Web sites.”
But Mr. (David E.) Hiller (the publisher) said the paper was investing as much as it could, especially in its Web site, and the cuts were nothing more than an acceptance of reality.
“Last year, our operating cash flow went down by about 20 percent,” he said.
“Can you solve the newspaper industry’s problems by spending more?” Mr. Hiller said. “It’s an attractive theory, but it doesn’t work.”