Tribune Publishing Co., parent of the Los Angeles Times, has decided to fire Austin Beutner, the civic leader and former Wall Street investment banker who became publisher and chief executive of the newspaper last year, The Times reported today
Tribune executives were to meet with Beutner this morning, the newspaper reported in an article posted on its website this morning. A Tribune spokesman declined to comment on the firing or on who would succeed Beutner.
Within the past few weeks, Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad approached Tribune with an offer to purchase the Los Angeles Times and the -San Diego Union-Tribune and operate the two papers as a separate company, The Times reported. The proposal was rejected.
Beutner had engineered Tribune’s purchase of the San Diego newspaper in May, part of a strategy to consolidate Southern California newspapers under common ownership as a way to reduce production and distribution costs and generate revenue for digital initiatives. The two papers comprised the newly formed California News Group under Beutner.
Beutner, 55, was named Times publisher in August 2014. In seeking to offset the decline of print advertising revenue, he launched multiple initiatives, according to the newspaper.
The Chicago Tribune, one of the newspapers within Tribune Publishing, reported Tuesday morning that leaders of the company were unhappy with the financial performance of The Times and with Beutner’s high-profile hires.
Beutner surrounded himself with outside talent, often from the world of Los Angeles and national politics. The Times reported that his hires included Benjamin Chang, a former U.S. Foreign Service officer who had worked at the National Security Council; Johanna Maska, who served in the White House Press Office under President Obama; and Nicco Mele, an Internet strategist and entrepreneur who served as the digital advisor to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign.
During Beutner’s 13 months as publisher, The Times won two Pulitzer Prizes — for cultural criticism and for feature writing — along with other national journalism awards for coverage of the California drought, the plight of Mexican farm workers and other stories. The California Newspaper Publishers Association awarded The Times its 2015 general excellence award.
In 2010, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed Beutner deputy mayor of economic development, or “jobs czar,” overseeing 13 city departments and the Port of Los Angeles. He helped to streamline the business- permitting process and led the effort to pass a tax break to lure companies to Los Angeles. Beutner accepted a $1-a-year salary and held the job for 15 months.
