Los Angeles Times Veterans Jeffrey Fleishman, Tracy Wilkinson, Alan Zarembo to Exit Amid Buyouts | Exclusive

Among the 30 to 40 veteran staffers taking a voluntary buyout from the Los Angeles Times are 23-year senior writer Jeffrey Fleishman, staff writer Tracy Wilkinson and national and foreign editor Alan Zarembo, TheWrap has learned.

More than one employee who took the buyout, all of whom asked to remain anonymous, told TheWrap on Wednesday that one major motivation was owner Patrick Soon-Shiong siding with Dr. Drew Pinsky after he called a Times reporter’s 2021 article about him “distorted.”

Last week, the LA Times Guild Unit Council sent a letter to Dr. Soon-Shiong asking him to support the writer in question, Jaclyn Cosgrove: “We are asking for a public statement making it clear that Pinsky’s comments were false and for the company to offer its support for Cosgrove, who was doing their job as a journalist for the Los Angeles Times.”

The letter added, “The owner of the Los Angeles Times should not support – or keep quiet during – unfair attacks on his own employee.”

This is the latest in a long series of clashes between editors and the paper’s tech billionaire owner. Last January, executive editor Kevin Merida stepped down over, as Merida later explained, “differences of opinion about the role of an executive editor, how journalism should be practiced and strategy going forward.”

More recently, a flurry of other editors left when Soon-Shiong opted to pull the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris before the November election and for his decision to appoint conservative political strategist Scott Jennings to the newly revamped editorial board.

One longtime employee told TheWrap on Wednesday that the buyout had been offered to the entire editorial staff, with about 10% accepting the deal. They estimated the size of the department, before the buyouts take effect, to be around 400 people. Most of the employees have continued to work remotely since the pandemic began in 2020.

The buyouts will go into effect on Feb. 28, although the above employee noted that some projects may require an extension.

The Times began offering buyouts to any staffers who had worked at the legacy paper for more than two years, Semafor reported earlier this month.

TheWrap has reached out to the Times for comment.

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