Newsonomics: Patrick Soon-Shiong On The L.A. Times’ Transmedia Future, French-Fry Tweets, And Modernizing The “Newspaper” Business

It was a single weekend phone call three years ago that set Patrick Soon-Shiong on an unexpected path. It was Michael Ferro, whom he barely knew, calling in spring 2016, telling him he’d make the medtech billionaire a “partner” in Tribune Publishing — if he agreed to invest $70.5 million (at a ...

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Newsonomics: At The New L.A. Times, Norm Pearlstine Is Doing a Little California Dreaming

Last year, on his third attempt — over 46 years — to get a good job in Los Angeles, Norm Pearlstine landed the plum of West Coast plums. Once Patrick Soon-Shiong paid a billionaire’s ransom to free the Los Angeles Times (and San Diego Union-Tribune) from the clutches of Tronc, Pearlstine ...

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Newsonomics: Inside The New L.A. Times, a 100-Year Vision That Bets On Tech And Top-Notch Journalism

  Read all of Ken Doctor’s series on the new L.A. Times:     Look past the view of the 105. Beyond it is the unfolding of the 21st century, delayed but now in full force at the Los Angeles Times. That’s my big takeaway from a visit to Patrick Soon-Shiong’s new temple to ...

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Newsonomics: The Ins And Outs Of A Potential McClatchy-Tronc Merger

Could McClatchy unexpectedly join Gannett and GateHouse as survivors in the game of the American daily newspaper consolidation? Could California become a new epicenter of the American local newspaper business? Could Patrick Soon-Shiong have found a bigger lab to test his theories of AI-enhanced ...

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Newsonomics: 8 Questions As Michael Ferro Leaves The Stage ($100 million Richer)

Michael Ferro has left the room. Tronc announced Friday that Merrick Media, the Ferro-led, Chicago-based investment firm had sold its 25% stake in Tronc. The hometown Chicago Tribune tries to tell us more about Sargent McCormick, the buyer of Merrick’s stake. We do know of his interest in the ...

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Newsonomics: Tronc “Crashes”, DFM Owner Sued, News Guard Funded, Advance Tiptoes Into Paywalls — and The Big Lesson From Hypergrowing The Athletic

Is it really only the beginning of March? The news business’ gyrations seem to be moving at warp speed this year, and particularly this week, as two newspaper companies long in the news make new big moves. As Tronc reckons with the crash of its stock price and oh-so-private Alden Global Capital ...

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Newsonomics: Inside L.A.’s Journalistic Collapse

How far is The Post from Los Angeles? Figure almost 50 years, as well as 3,000 miles. While big audiences and the remaining fully paid journalists can delight in the triumphant Spielbergian tale of The Washington Post’s decision to follow The New York Times in publishing the Pentagon Papers in ...

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Newsonomics: Can A New Management Team Soothe The Roiled Los Angeles Times Newsroom?

In the midst of a union organizing vote, new Los Angeles Times editor-in-chief Lewis D’Vorkin is moving forward with a sweeping reorganization of the Times newsroom. He will, I’ve learned from numerous sources, soon announce three new top hires — all from outside a newsroom in turmoil. Those ...

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Newsonomics: A Call To Arms (And Wallets) In The New Era Of Deregulation And Bigger Media

Quibble, if you will, about the level of degeneracy now afoot in the heart of the Old and New Confederacy, as the Roy Moore saga provides yet more sick drama in the country. That’s a sideshow. What’s quickly appearing on the main stage — if it’s still behind the curtain for now — is the... Read More

Newsonomics: Can The L.A. Times Pull From the Washington Post Playbook?

Pay up. News readers get that message more and more frequently these days, as big news sites tighten up their paywalls, allowing fewer free articles per month. While The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as The New Yorker and The Atlantic, have won the big Trump Bump digital ...

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