LA Times plans to lay off nearly 100 unionized journalists, guild says

Management at the Los Angeles Times plans to lay off almost 100 employees as part of a cost-cutting measure, including dozens of journalists who belong to the newspaper’s union.

Matt Pearce, a reporter at the LA Times and president of Media Guild of the West, wrote on Tuesday the newspaper’s leadership had informed him that 94 members of the LA Times’s union “are being notified of intended layoff today.”

The total amounts to about one-fourth of the union’s entire membership, Pearce said.

“This total, while devastating, is nonetheless far lower than the total number of Guild layoffs initially expected last week,” he wrote.

Last week, LA Times executive editor Kevin Merida stepped down after more than two years at its helm.

The LA Times is just the latest in a slew of media companies to lay off journalists as it looks to cut costs amid struggles to meet goals for subscribers and digital advertising revenue.

A representative for the news organization declined to comment on the planned job reductions.

Updated: 12:50 p.m.