LA Times staffers protest front page TV show ad

Earlier this week, the staff of UCLA’s Daily Bruin lamented the paper’s wrap-around ice cream ad as an unsavory concession to hard economic times. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says that today, it’s the turn of the Los Angeles Times staff to protest an ad in that paper.

Earlier this week, the staff of UCLA’s Daily Bruin lamented the paper’s wrap-around ice cream ad as an unsavory concession to hard economic times. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says that today, it’s the turn of the Los Angeles Times staff to protest an ad in that paper.

Cheryl Devall: Below the fold on the Times front page, the left column resembles a newspaper story about a hero rookie cop. But the so-called story – adjacent to a display ad for NBC’s new police drama “Southland” – is about the lead character on the show.

For months, section fronts in the Los Angeles Times have carried horizontal ads across the bottom of the page. But to at least 100 journalists who petitioned against it, this mock story crosses a line. Some object to the way it looks. The typeface and column width are out of sync with the newspaper’s design.

The petition also accuses L.A.’s largest daily of “violating a 128-year pact” with its readers “that the front page is reserved for the most meaningful stories of the day.” It concludes: “our willingness to sell our most precious real estate to an advertiser is embarrassing and demoralizing.” Like most dailies, the Times has lost lots of advertising to online and other platforms.