Newspapers Dying, Part 1,037

LA Times Publisher David Hiller has resigned after less than 2 years on the job, with little official explanation of his departure other than news of a general slide in newspaper revenue on the heels of major staff cuts. The same day, parent company Tribune "accepted" the resignation of Chicago Times editor Ann Marie Lipinski.

The AP article notes that Lipinski's "(p)redecessor Jeffrey Johnson was ousted in late 2006 when he balked at trimming newsroom staff to cut costs." Of course everybody knows that's one stand the courageously progressive Jeff Cohen would never take.

With continuing staff cuts at other big city newspapers, one can only wonder what turns of fate yet await the fine folks at the Chron. Given their recent obsessions with party pics and searchable databases, it seems like the big bosses at 801 are more interested in running a high-traffic blog than a serious newspaper.