Tribune Continues to Charm Los Angeles

Tribune is sitting on a powderkeg of anger in Los Angeles and, it turns out, playing with matches. The Tribune-owned Los Angeles Times is receiving another dose of angry letters and subscription cancellations after a Tribune executive implied that Times readers don't care about national and internationl news during an interview broadcast Tuesday on Frontline. A representative of the capital firm that is Tribune's fifth largest investor, Charles Bobrinskoy, said the LA Times doesn't need foreign bureaus to cater to its audience:

They've decided that they have to be a national newspaper with international coverage. They've got over 20 foreign bureaus, including bureaus in Istanbul and Cairo. Nobody is reading the L.A. Times wanting to find out what's happening in Istanbul, so it's critical that the L.A. Times figure out what it is, which is a provider of local news about what's going on in Southern California.

Below you'll find a sampling of letters to the editor printed in today's Times. These are just the few letters the Times saw fit to print. There are more comments in forums on the Frontline site.

Tuesday night on PBS' "Frontline," the Tribune Co. is reported as directing the focus of the Los Angeles Times toward local news. The company apparently feels that The Times should no longer aim to be a leader in national and international news. What it fails to realize is that Los Angeles is not just another city. We are a world-leading city and are not willing to put up with the backwater status that Chicago has always felt we deserve.

Yes, we want good local coverage. But we are better than relying on other news sources for information about our world and nation. The direction of the Tribune Co. is insulting and further evidence it should sell the paper to someone who cares about it.

PHIL HOSKINS
West Hollywood

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On "Frontline," a man from a management company that owns a great deal of Tribune stock said people in Los Angeles aren't concerned about world events; that L.A. is concerned about style and fashion and culture and sports and where to find a really good sushi bar, and that that's where the L.A. Times should focus its energies.

The world's a really scary place. Please keep feeding us, the vapid masses from L.A., more mindless crap. Put Paris Hilton on the front page and stay away from places like Walter Reed hospital, the Middle East and Africa because, according to the gentleman from the management company, some other news organizations are already covering the world.

MICHAEL SACHS
Los Angeles

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I have just watched "Frontline" on KCET on the problems of journalism in our country, with an in-depth section on the L.A. Times. I was filled with deep anger and resentment at what has happened to our newspaper. I feel personally offended at the Wall Street gentleman telling me that I want to read only local news or news of the entertainment industry. I am shocked and can think of nothing but canceling my subscription to The Times.

LUBA FISCHER
Los Angeles

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The people of a great city want and deserve a great newspaper that will deliver the world to their doorstep, while delivering their own distinctive voice to the world. We can get local news from plenty of other sources.

Why should I have to buy the New York Times in addition to the Los Angeles Times in order to feel like I am getting the big picture?

The problem with that man from the management company is that he sees Los Angeles as a small town that only cares about style and entertainment. He seems to think that the citizens of Los Angeles don't have any interest in the world beyond our own borders. He doesn't understand what it means to our city to have a newspaper of national importance. The Tribune Co.'s pursuit of short-term profits has nearly ruined our newspaper.

MICHAEL GASTALDO
Santa Monica

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It is a shame that you are turning this world-class paper into a shell of itself. How much profit is enough? Stop the downsizing and maybe I'll renew my subscription.

WILLIAM TURCHYN II
Los Angeles