Riding the death spiral

By Geoff Dougherty | May 06, 2:56 PM

Los Angeles magazine is running an insightful article about the demise of the L.A. Times, told through the eyes of the half-dozen men who have edited the paper in recent years.

By ordering the accounts from oldest to most recent, the article allows you to ride along the death spiral. Things go from rosy ("Best paper in the world") through years of myopic management, to their current state (clueless flailing, mindless cost-cutting).

The one guy who seems to have a good fix on a way out of the problem is Jim O'Shea, the export from Chicago who was canned by Sam Zell.

His solution: Strategic investment in new products and sections that will make money. Will it ever happen? Not in a million years.

Tagged: media, Chicago Tribune