Dan informed us that he has hired Christina Schoellkopf as a

Tronc Is Building A Shadow Newsroom Full Of Scabs

cheap moncler outlet As lunch was winding down Wednesday in the Los Angeles Times cafeteria, Bruce Upbin,one of several newly hired but as yet unannounced assistant managing editors, sat alone at a table speaking a little too loudly into his headphone mic. cheap moncler outlet

moncler outlet sale Upbin was a mystery to much of the newspaper’s staff, moncler outlet store which had just voted to unionize the week before. managers had also been working on the second floor,despite the newsroom being on the third. And, of course, there was the bizarre fact that they had yet to be introduced to any of the actual newsroom staff of about 400. Times employee, who spoke to HuffPost on the condition of anonymity, overheard Upbin say they were creating cheap moncler sale a national newsroom outside of the union, to service all of Tronc’s markets. Times, along with other newspapers in 10 markets across the country. moncler outlet sale

moncler outlet jackets Upbin also mentioned that he moncler outlet online had a total of five people to hire. This was the closest thing Times employees have gotten in weeks to a real answer about what the company is up to and it was a confirmation of some of their worst fears. moncler outlet jackets

The new management team is apparently being framed as part of moncler sale outlet a “reorganization,” according to Harvard’s Nieman Lab. Times Editor in Chief Lewis D’Vorkin has quietly brought on a number of editors from around the country. In addition to Upbin, who had worked with D’Vorkin at Forbes, he hired former Fox Sports executiveSteve Miller as an assistant managing editor for digital;Louise Story, a renowned former New York Times reporter, as managing editor;The Washington Post’s Sylvester Monroe as an assistant managing editor;and Will Tacy of Good Media as an editor. And the only reason anyone knows any of this is cheap moncler coats thanks to the company’s internal HR software, which has proved to be one of the only windows into management’s thinking. HuffPost spoke with 12 current and former Times employees, all of whom asked to remain anonymous moncler outlet sale for fear of retribution. They described an atmosphere of intense secrecy, distrust and anxiety as they monlcer down jackets try to get to the bottom of a story they’re living instead of reporting: What exactly does Tronc have in store for them?

cheap moncler “The newsroom has basically become a large scale intelligence operation to figure out what the fuck our managers are up to,” one current employee explained. And though the newsroom did discover bits and pieces, Upbin helped tie the whole thing together. Times union staff but that of other Tronc properties as well, making the union employees expendable. Timessenior management which includes D’Vorkin,Times President Mickie Rosen and CEO and Publisher Ross Levinsohn, who is currently on a leave of absence followingallegations of sexual harassment have refused to offer any clarity about what this might mean, much less acknowledge the existence of a new national operation,you can only stonewall a roomful of reporters for so long before they start digging on their own. cheap moncler

D’Vorkin and the newly hired managers did not initially respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment. On Jan. 29, after this story was first published, Louise Story told HuffPost, “I had agreed to work at Tronc and at The Los Angeles Times in very high level managerial roles. Cheap Moncler But, as a result of recent significant changes in those roles, I decided not to work there in any capacity. Timesstaffers are all employed under Los Angeles Times Communications LLC, according to the same internal HR system that revealed the existence of these hires in the first place, these mysterious new employees have been hired under a Tronc company that was renamed Los Angeles Times Network LLC in November, as reported earlier Friday by Nieman Lab’s Ken Doctor.

moncler outlet online If you look on the California Secretary of State’s website, you’ll find the name change filing below. For instance, Monroe will head up a vertical covering race issues, Upbin will be overseeing the tech vertical, and Story, moncler sale who is in New York, will take on an investigative vertical. Times but also Tronc newspapers nationally. Timeseditorial operation, which strives to maintain a strict separation from any business interests. (The paper has a history of trampling the line between business and editorial.)Some employees worry this is a precursor to layoffs for the union staffers, whom Tronc seems to be actively making redundant. Another possibility is that Tronc will focus on building up a non union workforce under NewCo and kill the union through attrition. moncler outlet online

On Jan. 19, the newsroom voted overwhelmingly to unionize, 248 to 44, with the NewsGuild. Given the turmoil in recent days, the union sent a note to members informing them of their so called Weingarten right to be accompanied by a union representative in any meeting with management in which discipline seems possible. After workers vote to unionize, a company generally has to keep the status quo in place as the parties bargain toward a contract, meaning that, legally speaking, it would be tough for the company to fire a bunch of newsroom staffers and give their work to new non union workers.

moncler factory outlet The NewsGuild declined to comment, but the standard union buy moncler jackets move here would be to cheap moncler demand information from the company on any new hires and where they fit in with the current organization. As one staffer put it, “Our strategy right now as a union is to find out everything we can and to raise our voices without fear of individual repercussions.” moncler factory outlet

moncler jacket sale At a recent meeting that D’Vorkin held with a group of reporters and editors, one employee asked what Levinsohn’s Jan. 18 presentation meant for Timesstaffers. D’Vorkin didn’t have an answer, according to a current employee and a former employee. “I didn’t see Ross’s presentation” was all he would allow. Staffers pressed him, explaining that that’s not what they’d asked they had asked what was going to happen to them. “I didn’t see Ross’s presentation,” he said again. moncler jacket sale

moncler jackets outlet “The Los Angeles Times is like a Soviet circus right now,” said one cheap moncler jackets current employee. “Propaganda. Dancing bears. Mercurial leaders who say weird shit. moncler jackets outlet

cheap moncler jackets sale Last week, Dan Strauss, senior vice president and general manager for entertainment and lifestyle,met with a group of entertainment section editors. cheap moncler jackets sale

cheap moncler coats When an editorial staffer raised an objection to someone from the business side running accounts that were supposed to represent the news outlet, according to an employee, Strauss said simply: “We’re all on the same team. Times.” When the employee noted again that the two sides were supposed to be separate, Strauss said that they would take the conversation “offline” and discuss it later. They did not discuss it later. cheap moncler coats

moncler outlet uk In an email addressed to D’Vorkin and Miller that eventually got forwarded around the newsroom, Jessica Roy, the audience engagement editor, plainly laid out the reasons for her and her team’s discomfort: moncler outlet uk

moncler outlet I wanted to raise some concerns I had based on my meeting this morning with Dan Strauss and the entertainment editors. Dan informed us that he has hired Christina Schoellkopf as a senior social media manager, and that she would be assuming responsibility for all entertainment editorial social media accounts. moncler outlet

I have serious concerns about an employee who was vetted, hired by and reports to the business side of the Los Angeles Times making editorial decisions and assuming publishing control of our brand on social media. Such an arrangement is unprecedented in this newsroom and is not the standard practice in most newsrooms. Our audience has an expectation that these accounts are independent from the business moncler outlet side in the same way print readers expect that editors choose the stories on the front page. What we post on social media and how it is framed is an extension of the journalism that we do here at The Times, and it should come from our editorial side.

moncler sale outlet Over the past few years, my team has cheap moncler outlet guided best practices and style across all social media channels, including Entertainment. Times voice on social media, our policy for corrections on social media, and general best practices. moncler sale outlet

moncler outlet store Furthermore, journalists in the newsroom adhere to certain guidelines and standards. We carefully craft social media messages to maintain both the objectivity of our work and the trust of our readership. moncler outlet store

moncler sale I am deeply concerned this violates the separation between editorial and business. At the least, this infringes on the structures that ensure our editorial independence. I wanted to raise this issue with both of you to get your perspectives. moncler sale

Co signed by the entire audience engagement team

D’Vorkin replied thanking https://www.moncleroutletmall.com her and assuring the team that there would be “more discussions to come.” When, exactly,D’Vorkin intends to hold those discussions remains unclear.