A little more than a year after being named publisher of the L.A. Times, Austin Beutner has been fired by the paper’s parent company Tribune Publishing Co. Also, Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina has made it a long way from her early days as a secretary at tech company Hewlett-Packard. Then, know your audience, that’s the first rule of entertainment. But what if your audience is a kid in elementary school?
Analyzing LA Times’ future after parent company fires publisher Austin Beutner
A little more than a year after being named publisher of the L.A. Times, Austin Beutner has been fired by the paper’s parent company Tribune Publishing Co. The Baltimore Sun’s publisher, Tim Ryan, will reportedly take over as publisher.
This is more than a media business story. It's at the heart of how a daily newspaper can reinvent itself while still satisfying a larger corporation's expectations. Beutner had a vision. Now it'll be someone else's.
What does this mean for the future of the L.A. Times as a newspaper? Who is Tim Ryan, and what is his reputation? Why did Tribune decide to fire Beutner? Can a newspaper like the L.A. times really serve as a public service institution like Beutner envisioned or does its for-profit model prevent that?
The following is excerpted from a longer blog post published to Austin Beutner's Facebook account today:
I am writing to let you know that I am leaving the Los Angeles Times, effective immediately. I am not departing by choice, nor is this some “mutual agreement” on my part and Tribune Publishing. Tribune Publishing has decided to fire me. I am sorry you will read this on social media, but I no longer have access to my Times email.
For more of KPCC’s coverage of this story, click HERE. For everything we know on Tim Ryan, click HERE. You can also read the L.A. Times article HERE.
To listen to this segment, click the play button above.
Guest:
David Folkenflik, NPR media correspondent
Carly Fiorina: From running a tech giant to running for presidency
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina has made it a long way from her early days as a secretary at tech company Hewlett-Packard.
Fiorina worked her way from secretary to chief executive officer of the company and now is in the race to be the first woman president of the U.S.
Fiorina is being called an unusual case, running a presidential campaign while never having held a political office. While it’s still too soon to tell what direction Fiorina’s campaign will go, some speculate she’ll make it on one of the republican tickets as a candidate for vice president.
However, just last week, Fiorina saw a rise in the polls, coming in third in New Hampshire and Iowa. What’s next for the Fiorina campaign? And will she be able to take the spotlight away from Trump in the polls?
Guest:
Jenna Johnson, reporter for Washington Post who has been covering Fiorina
Peter Burrows, author of "Backfire: Carly Fiorina's High-Stakes Battle for the Soul of Hewlett-Packard."
Are you #LatinoEnough?
It's a classic situation for second-and third-generation Latinos: You were born in the United States.
English is your first language. Maybe you speak Spanish, maybe you don't. And for those who don't—somehow you're considered "not Latino enough" by some people.
If you met someone on the street, how would you describe your ethnic or racial background to him or her? Do you choose words like "Hispanic," "Chicano," "Spanish," or "Latino"? Is it important to you to keep your parents culture(s) alive? Tell us about an experience that made you feel you weren't "Latino enough."
New-look Clippers considering mascot, weighing options for future of local broadcasts
The times they are a-changin’ for Los Angeles basketball.
The Lakers are coming off their worst season in franchise history and will have to earn back their reputation as top dogs on the Staples Center court. Meanwhile, the Clippers have a new owner (who may be lacking in hair but certainly not in dance moves), a new logo (which released to…mixed reviews), and now it appears they are considering adding a team mascot.
The L.A. Times reported this week that the team was in the “planning stages” of the process, but didn’t indicate what the mascot or its name might be. Clippers beat writer Broderick Turner says team brass have discussed names (“Seagull Knievel” didn’t make the cut) but are still conceptualizing what the mascot would be. Assuming the team decides to go forward, the Lakers, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets will be the only remaining NBA teams without a mascot.
While fans in L.A. will be able to see Clipper games as usual this season on Fox Sports’ Prime Ticket, the team’s local broadcast future is up in the air. Last week, the New York Post reported that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer turned down an offer of $60 million from Prime Ticket to continue broadcasting Clipper games locally, and is considering the idea of starting his own, over-the-top network instead.
While some think Ballmer, Microsoft’s former CEO and a billionaire several times over, is bluffing to get more money out of a regional sports network, others think he’s serious. But starting the Clippers’ own network would be difficult, since there are no other models in the NBA upon which to base the service.
Do you think Steve Ballmer is smart to try and get more money out of a regional broadcast deal? How successful do you see an over-the-top network being, if Ballmer decided to make one? In terms of the team mascot, what do you think it should be? What should its name be? Do the Clippers even need a mascot?
Guests:
Dan Woike, Clippers beat writer for the Orange County Register. He tweets
Lee Ohanian, professor of economics at UCLA and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University
SNL writer, ‘Go the F*** to Sleep’ author on the art of making kids laugh
Know your audience, that’s the first rule of entertainment. But what if your audience is a kid in elementary school? How do you tailor comedy for young readers? What are the topics that are off-limits? How do you write jokes that’d come across?
Joining Larry to talk about those questions are authors and funnymen Alan Zweibel and Adam Mansbach, whose new kids’ book, “Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My …!”, comes out today.
Event Info: Alan Zweibel and Adam Mansbach will discuss and sign their new book tonight, September 8, at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena. The event starts at 6:30pm.
Guests:
Alan Zweibel, co-author of the new children’s book, “Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My…!” (Disney/Hyperion Books, 2015). He is a former writer for “Saturday Night Live”
Adam Mansbach, co-author of the children’s new book, “Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My…!” (Disney/Hyperion Books, 2015). He is also the author of “Go the F*** to Sleep.” (Akashic Books, 2011)