LA Times Editor Fired

James O'Shea, the former Chicago Tribune managing editor who replaced Dean Baquet as the Los Angeles Times editor in November 2006, has been "forced out for resisting newsroom budget cuts," according to a report from The New York Times.

The story, topping Google's Business News at this hour, is being covered coast to coast with media columnists spewing out details of what might have happened leading up to Sunday's news and about what might be next. Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune media columnist, wrote: "Sources at the Times, which Tribune Co. took over in its 2000 acquisition of Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Co., said part of the dispute between Hiller and O'Shea over reductions stemmed from the timing -- this being a presidential election year, an expensive proposition to cover. But unlike past budget disagreements, this one was kept from most of the newsroom and did not play out in public."

While The Wall Street Journal first reported the story online on Sunday, the Los Angeles Times now has their own account. A noticeable difference is in the headline. While papers across the country played up the word "Fired," or some connotation of it, in headlines, the Times headline reads simply: "Times editor to leave paper." Publisher David D. Hiller and O'Shea, were both quoted:

James E. O'Shea, editor since November 2006, said Sunday that he was forced out after disagreeing with Times Publisher David D. Hiller's plan to shrink the newsroom budget.

"We did not share a common vision for the future of the L.A. Times," O'Shea said.

Hiller disputed the notion that O'Shea had been fired, saying his exit was part of a larger reorganization plan being put in place under The Times' new ownership...

"Think of it as the changes made at the start of a new presidential term," Hiller said. "In the context of these changes, Jim and I decided we no longer saw things the same way about how to take the company forward."

Read the entire LA Times report here.