SAN DIEGO — Jeff Light, the editor and publisher of the San Diego Union-Tribune, announced his departure from the newspaper effective this week after 13 years.
Light sent a 165-word email to staff about his intentions to leave the newspaper “this week” and thanked “everyone at the U-T” for his “special experience,” the Union-Tribune reported.
“My idea of the company was that we could all work together, shoulder to shoulder, directed only by our shared love of our work, our belief in one another, and our ability to learn together,” he said in the email and reported by the Union-Tribune. “The Union-Tribune is a special place. Those of us who are leaving will walk away with a sense of achievement that I hope is not missed in all the tweets and coverage of our story.”
Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong sold the 154-year-old Union-Tribune to MediaNews Group, a Denver-based operating unit of Alden Global Capital, which owns 11 newspapers in the Southern California News Group, last week.
Editors, reporters, photographers and columnists had little time to react to the news before receiving an email from MediaNews Group stating that staff reductions were imminent to “offset the slowdown in revenues as economic headwinds continue to impact the media industry.”
“We will seek efficiencies in business operations, distribution and production while striving to support and prioritize the robust, local newsgathering needed to serve the communities that rely on the Union-Tribune for excellence in journalism,” said Sharon Ryan, executive vice president for California of MediaNews Group.
Emails from MediaNews Group also said that if it “does not reach a sufficient number of employees” who accept buyouts, “the company will lay off additional employees.”
Light posted on his LinkedIn page that he is “at large” but with no title. The staff members of the Union-Tribune were reportedly offered buyouts after the purchase was complete. The buyout terms are two weeks’ pay for the first year of employment and one week for each year after that, possibly capped at 40 weeks, according to media reports.
Union-Tribiune reporter Lori Weisberg said in a story published in the newspaper it isn’t known who will take over as editor and publisher of the newspaper.
“Current managing editor Lora Cicalo will remain in charge of the newsroom as a succession plan for Light’s duties is formulated, the Union-Tribune staff was told in a video call with a representative of the new ownership,” she wrote.
Ron Hasse, president and publisher of the Southern California News Group, told Weisberg there will be organizational changes.
“You have an excellent managing editor in Lora Cicalo, there is leadership in place and things are going to continue as expected moving forward,” Hasse said.
The Times of San Diego reports that feature writer John Wilkens and Merrie Monteagudo, the paper’s last remaining librarian, are also leaving. For most of those departing, Friday appeared to be their last day of work.
The terms of the buyout reportedly include two weeks’ pay for the first year of employment and one week of pay for each additional year, capped at around 40 weeks.
The sale also encompasses the smaller U-T Community Press papers, including the Del Mar Times, Solana Beach Sun, Rancho Santa Fe Review, Carmel Valley News and Encinitas Advocate.
According to media reports, the following Union-Tribune reporters have accepted buyouts and will be leaving the newspaper:
- Greg Moran, investigative reporter, 33 years
- Joshua Emerson Smith, senior environment reporter, joined the paper in 2015
- Sam Hodgson, director of photography and video
- Gary Warth, a reporter focusing on homelessness, credited with 33 years of service
- Dana Littlefield, an editor who has been at the paper in various roles since 2000
- Diane Bell, city columnist, 40+ years with the paper
- Deborah Brennan, political reporter who also covered education, 13 years
- Kate Morrisey, immigration reporter with the paper since 2016
- Merrie Monteagudo, research manager, 35 years
- John Wilkens, feature writer at the paper for the past 35 years
- Jeff Light, editor and publisher, 13 years
City News Service contributed to this report
1 comment
Typical corporate raider buyout. The U-T is losing some of its more valuable people. Don’t forget cartoonist Steve Breen, as well.