Hoping to reverse sagging circulation, the LA Time will increase coverage of Hollywood and celebrities, run shorter stories, and more cover more regional news. Great, all we need is another celebu-rag. However, Dean Baquet, formerly the paper’s managing editor who became editor in August, says he doesn’t want the reputation of the Times as a journalistic heavyweight to suffer. Baquet says he will remain committed to serious reporting but, at the same time, he’s considering re-establishing a gossip column. While celebrity news coverage seems to be the means to survival these day, we already have Defamer, not to mention the other thousand media outlets that cover Tyra Banks and Jennifer Love Hewitt’s obsession with their breasts. We don’t need the Times going Hollywood as well.
