The end of newspapers- 2

By Lou Grant | Jul 15, 9:30 AM

The top editorial talent at the Tribune Company is leaving. That's the bottom line of exits this week by David Hiller, the former publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Anne Marie Lipinski, an editor at the Chicago Tribune. Jim Romenesko reports in his column that Hiller proved to be a poor manager of the LA Times, with cash flow shrinking faster than other Tribune newspaper properties.

Lipinski, on the other hand, has been respected and liked in the news room. Her departure may not be intended to be tied to the most recent layoffs in the newsroom, but it will forever be associated with these layoffs anyway.

The situation is unsettling to say the least. "People were definitely put back on their heels by the timing of this," the Tribune's Washington Bureau chief, Michael Tackett said in a Washington Post article. Lipinski is leaving this Thursday, a rush to the exit.

At the same time, Lee Abrams, chief fool of the Tribune, is still putting out his thought pieces about the directions of newspapers. It isn't as if Abrams blogs about his discovery of innovation in Orlando or Baltimore isn't a possible model for the newspaper of the early 21^st Century. It is that his ideas are presented so that you rub your temples and close your eyes and imagine, instead, a newspaper without you. Without you as a reader. Without you as a contributor and employee.

Tagged: Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Jim Romenesko, Tribune Company, Ann Marie Lipinski, David Hiller, Lee Abrams