New NYT Editor Was Ousted from LA Times in 2006

Dean Baquet, the new executive editor of the New York Times following the ouster of Jill Abramson, was himself ousted as editor of the Los Angeles Times in 2006–on Election Day. Baquet was reportedly removed because of his strong–and public–stance against cuts to newsroom staff as the paper struggled to stay afloat.

Baquet’s “insurgency” at the Los Angeles Times included a public speech “in which he encouraged editors at other newspapers to ‘push back’ against owners who wanted to cut newsroom staffs,” the New York Times reported at the time. Correspondents around the world donned “Baquet t-shirts” in solidarity. The controversy was a public relations headache for the Tribune Company, which is trying to spin off the paper.

Ironically, one of the reported reasons for Abramson’s departure is her own rebellion against New York Times management, including over alleged disparities in compensation with her male predecessors.