American Fortune Life

The silent needles in the conference room, fearful of possible "blood washes”, would be a tragedy not only for newspapers, but for the entire local news industry. If the recreational capital of the United States were to become a local news desert, it was conceivable that there were no similar news services in California.

No one will question the fact that the cut-off knife raised by the young boss will fall, so those present will be worried. Once the cut-off is made, newspapers and employees will necessarily have to go up against each other, not just about the individual, but about the city, about this institution, about the people who live here and what they have lost.

“Boss, if you're dissatisfied with the clandestine press system, you can reform it, but if you cut it all, it will undoubtedly make local governments no longer regulated, operate in an opaque and open environment, provide the greatest help, and cut them off will hurt this important agency in California, one of our nation's news giants."

The editor-in-chief, John Carroll, was so full of facial expression that he wanted to convince his boss to reconsider his decision to wash his blood, after all, a matter for hundreds of people and the local influence of the Los Angeles Times.

“When I acquired the Los Angeles Times, I assumed all of its operating and pension liabilities, about tens of millions of dollars. In the face of the impact of the financial crisis today, I can't help but think about massive layoffs to meet" major financial challenges, "after all, the world is doing this, but, John, you can rest assured, I won't move in the News Editorial Office. I know exactly what I'm doing! ”

When he heard John Carroll, Andy just smiled slightly, looked at each other and said what was needed to silence everyone in the room.

Indeed, layoffs have become commonplace in this troubled industry. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the turn of the century, the United States newspaper industry employed 424,900 journalists. By mid-2009, that figure had been cut by almost half, with only 283,200 journalists working in newspapers. While digital media are growing, the number of journalists they employ is far from filling this gap.

This is the best and worst time for the media. Digitalization is making everything a medium, artificial intelligence technology is blending with traditional media expression and accelerating the shuffling of cards in the media industry. Now, "Will machines replace text practitioners?" has become an industry concern. This has not only led to the loss of thousands of journalists, but has also worsened the situation of the public.

As far as “saving money" is concerned, redundancy is undoubtedly one of the most direct, visible and commonly used methods, while the other method is to write on salaries, such as salary cuts, unpaid leave, etc.

And the above approach, for the Los Angeles Times, was a decision that nobody wanted to implement, and before that, the newspapers did get cut off because they had a wealthy boss as their backing, and some floated because they thought they could avoid being cut off like other newspapers in financial distress.

However, no one thought that, because of a simple survey, the union that was proud to forget came to the opposite side of the boss, and those who preferred to believe in the union were really going to be cleansed this time, just wondering if the union could carry the strong crushing of the young boss!

“Boss, I propose to dramatically increase the number of external writers in the digital sector to form a" Los Angeles Times Web "for more sources of information, while recommending that the current editorial department of the Los Angeles Times focus on newspapers and expand news websites, apps, and community media content in conjunction with other partners and contributions of our parent Smith Media Group.

Once the plan is implemented, the biggest change will be the establishment of the Los Angeles Times, a network of external writers, which will provide more extensive and in-depth coverage over the long term without compromising the operating model of spending. ”

Bieber Angel, the electronic CEO of the new Los Angeles Times, suddenly suggested to Andy that he seemed to want to use a new topic to shift the tension in the conference room, but with his proposal, the silent people in the conference room immediately questioned the opposition, making it more unacceptable than layoffs.

“Recruiting external handwriting can damage the brand image, discredit news, and betray readers... ”

“We must not publish news that has no deep value, not even news! ”

“Your plan will trigger a strong trade union rebound... They would ask newspapers to abandon the program... ”

“Ha! Interesting! ”

Andy's smile suddenly raised some volume, silencing the conference room again, ignoring everyone's gaze, but looking around a week later, and laughing: "Is it possible to recruit an outside party to write together that can cause a strong rebound from the union? Will it also damage the brand image? Despise the value of news? Betrayed the reader?

Dude, this is outrageous! ”

With his words, the management here seemed to realize something, his face suddenly grew pale, and he smiled bitterly, and they knew that this time it was a real death, didn't it just happen to be awkward?

Sure enough, Andy's face was frosty and he said, “This is my newspaper! Bieber, I agree with your plan. It's a great idea! ”

After that, Andy glanced at the publisher and executive officer of the Los Angeles Times, who had never spoken, and frowned slightly: “I'll leave the redundancy to you, make me a plan! ”

“Okay, boss. ”

Nodding his face without expressions, he didn't seem to reject his decision. Andy nodded slightly, then looked around again a week later and said coldly: “Everything in this meeting belongs to company secrets, keep it confidential. I don't want to hear any rhetoric. Next, we'll wait for the results. I hope you don't make embarrassing mistakes! Let's close the meeting. ”

Watching people leave behind silently, Andy still sitting in the chair with a smile in his mouth, his signature pen spinning in his hand, wondering what was on his mind until he and CEO Eddie Hattenstein were the only ones left in the conference room.

“This time, whoever stands against us, get the fuck out of here! ”

Eddie Hattenstein violently shook his heart and looked at his young boss, staring at him cold and staring at him. He opened his mouth and finally replied bitterly: "Yes, boss. ”

“Still, I don't need to eat my meal, in turn, curse me and oppose my employees, so I might as well donate to the homeless, at least they know to thank me! ”

Andy stood up from the chair, walked to Eddie, who also stood up, stared at each other, reached out and patted each other on the shoulder, and said faintly: "Old no go, new no come, more than 10,000 unemployed journalists, enough for you to choose, rest assured, no mess! ”

It has become clear that his boss has raised the knife, dug the pit, and waited for Eddie, CEO of the Los Angeles Times, to jump in, that his boss is really going to bloodwash the entire newspaper, clean up all the pricks, crack down on unions, and even disintegrate union influence, and that those journalists and editors who don't know the truth will be the biggest victims.

Well, it's not a sacrifice, if they don't play along with the union, this time, they're really going to kick on the iron board, the one in front of them, but the richest man in the world, really can take a breath, smash the money down, kick all the mess employees, and let the union's head blow!

The curtain has been pulled apart, the pit has been dug up, the net has been opened, just waiting for someone to jump out onto the stage, fall into the pit, and be knocked out by a net...

Sitting back in the car of Little Versailles, his eyes squinting, Andy smiling softly, “Oh, I really look forward to it! ”