Beyond Baroque Gets $20,000 Donation

Photo from Beyond Baroque at flickr

A news release from the Venice-based, Los Angeles literary arts center Beyond Baroque says the organization is "nearing completion" in its nine-month effort to nail down that dollar-a-year, quarter-century lease approved in late February by the City Council.

Good news indeed, but perhaps better than that was the announcement of a sizable financial contribution, coincidentally in the same amount as the organization's reported cost of maintenance for one year:

To mark the launch of the 40th Anniversary Campaign, [Beyond Baroque President Fred] Dewey announced a $20,000 donation from a major LA artist living in Venice who, though preferring anononymity, began in the underground and is very sympathetic to the institution’s spirit. He joins internationally celebrated donors to Beyond Baroque Ed Ruscha, Mike Kelley, and others.

While other non-profit groups, including National Public Radio, have recently bemoaned devastating drops in donations and sponsorships, Beyond Baroque once again demonstrates its ability to beat the count and remain in the fight.

Also in the release, Beyond Baroque announced the names (brief bios included) of newly installed members of its board of trustees. I couldn't find the news release on the Beyond Baroque Web site, so I posted a copy of what Dewey emailed this week. It's at this link.

* Cross posted at LA Observed.

— TJ Sullivan in LA

A Few Changes Around The Web Site ... Comments Function Is Switched On

Art by TJ Sullivan

Regular readers have no doubt noticed a few changes around the site, particularly the partitioning of the blog pages into three columns from two, and the addition of advertisements to the right column.

Rest assured, we (and by that we mean "I," as in "me," but since so many other bloggers are referring to their singular selves as "we," we figured it's something cool bloggers do, so, uh) ...

Where were we?

Oh, yes, we were assuring you that, though we may look different, we're still the same.

Other recent changes include switching on the comments function. We'll see how this goes. Some of our favorite sites use them, and some of them don't, all for very good reasons. Provided there aren't too many patently lunatic posts, or personal attacks we have to spend time deleting, the plan is to leave the comments function up and open indefinitely. Please sign up so we know who you are. Unless you're tipping us to a scandal of Watergate-like proportions, there's really no cause to keep your identity secret, and even then, well ... we'd still prefer to know who you are.

More changes will be going online in the next few weeks throughout the Web site. As always, please feel free to drop us an e-mail (any one of us) to offer a comment, compliment, criticism, or story idea. Always, always, always open to story/blog-post ideas, especially those of interest to writers, or anything with a Southern California hook.

— TJ Sullivan in LA

NPR Cuts 64 Staffers, Leaves 21 Posts Open As Endowment Investments Tank

Art by TJ Sullivan

Today was yet another bad day for journalism, especially in the Los Angeles studios of National Public Radio, which announced it was laying off 64 staffers companywide, and doing away with 21 open jobs that had yet to be filled.

Rumors about the possibility of a layoff had been circulating for about a week at NPR West in Culver City. Today much of what was feared came true as NPR West learned it was hit worst of all with more than half of the firings -- 34 postions, says LAist -- coming out of its ranks, including the cancellation of the programs Day to Day and News & Notes .

Dennis L. Haarsager, interim president and CEO of NPR, explained it this way in a memo [via LA Observed]:

The manageable $2 million budget deficit we projected in July for Fiscal Year 2009 has now risen to $23 million.

It is clear that this serious financial situation can’t be responsibly resolved through short-term or temporary cuts. Rather, we must take measures that provide long-term savings, and that preserve our effectiveness and our ability to generate vital income in the years ahead.

Why did it come to this? It's a combination of problems, including a $4 million drop in expected grants and contributions, as well as a decline in corporate sponsorships, according to The New York Times.

The NY Times story says: "... corporate sponsorships in particular have dropped precipitously, to a projected $33 million for the year instead of the $47 million budgeted, NPR executives said."

The Washington Post explains another source of public radio's pain — bad stock investments by the $230 endowment bequeathed to NPR by the late Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's mogul Ray Kroc.

From WaPo:

... NPR will receive no income from the Kroc gift this year because of declines in its investment value. Kroc's gift had spun off about $10 million in revenue for NPR last year, but legal restrictions required and NPR's investment advisors recommended suspending that revenue source as the gift's value declined. NPR said it will make up the lost revenue by dipping into its reserves this year.

— TJ Sullivan in LA

LAT Freezes Pending Freelancer Payments!

The news just keeps getting worse. Freelancers have now joined those owed severance payments by the LA Times in the long wait to be paid. It could take six months to a year, and even then there's no guarantee anyone will be fully compensated.

From LA Observed:

If the Los Angeles Times owes you money, you might have to wait a long time. Publisher Eddy Hartenstein told the staff yesterday that the Chapter 11 filing freezes pending payments to freelancers, but said the paper will ask the Delaware judge to allow the commitments to be met. This year's hundreds of laid-off former employees have not heard those assurances and are fairly frantic to find out how long their severance payments will be interrupted. Hartenstein apparently said the Chapter 11 status could last six months to a year. By the way, he told the staff "town hall" meeting that the Times and the rest of Tribune's units remain profitable — this is about Sam Zell's debt load and inability to renegotiate his loans or sell properties like the Cubs.

RELATED: One freelancer got proactive when the magazine 02138 folded up while still owing him money.

— TJ Sullivan in LA

Did Tribune Co. Offer Up Editor's Head?

In yet another lesson on how to make a bad newspaper ...

Among the many reports this morning on the arrest of Democratic Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Gawker spotted this wretchedly juicy bit of unethical non-journalisticness, which was allegedly perpetrated by Los Angeles Times parent Tribune Co.

Buried within the 76-page FBI affidavit dealing with the governor's alleged bribery efforts lay the details of a diabolical exchange between Tribune Co. and the Gov's office.

According to the text of the affidavit, it appears that a Tribune financial advisor signaled the willingness of Tribune's owner — we assume that's our own Sam Zell — to use reorganizations and budget cuts to eliminate a wrong-thinking deputy editorial page editor, whose opinion of the Illinois governor was less than favorable. Less than two weeks later, guess who was suddenly willing to talk about funneling a few tax dollars to the debt-ridden Tribune's Wrigley Field?

From the affidavit via Gawker:

In a November 11 intercepted call, [Blagojevich's chief of staff John] Harris allegedly told Blagojevich that Tribune Financial Advisor talked to Tribune Owner and Tribune Owner "got the message and is very sensitive to the issue." Harris told Blagojevich that according to Tribune Financial Advisor, there would be "certain corporate reorganizations and budget cuts coming and, reading between the lines, he's going after that section." Blagojevich allegedly responded. "Oh. That's fantastic." After further discussion, Blagojevich said, "Wow. Okay, keep our fingers crossed. You're the man. Good job, John."

In a further conversation on November 21, Harris told Blagojevich that he had singled out to Tribune Financial Advisor the Tribune's deputy editorial page editor, John McCormick, "as somebody who was the most biased and unfair." After hearing that Tribune Financial Advisor had assured Harris that the Tribune would be making changes affecting the editorial board, Blagojevich allegedly had a series of conversations with Chicago Cubs representatives regarding efforts to provide state financing for Wrigley Field.

The editor in question was not let go in the round of layoffs that followed, according to the affidavit.

Nonetheless, the details might help explain why some LA Times staffers cringe when Zell refers to them as "partners" in e-mail.

— TJ Sullivan in LA

* Cross posted at LA Observed.

LAT Stops Severance Payments!*

The Los Angeles Times entryway -- By TJ Sullivan

Ho-ho-holy shit!

Apologies to the faint of heart, for whom a word like "shit" might offend, but ... seriously HOLY SHIT! You want to get offended? Check this out ...

Remember the casualties of the last Los Angeles Times layoff?

Unfortunately it appears some of those folks are still within gut-punching distance of Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell.

Today's bankruptcy filing has apparently put at risk all severance payments that have yet to be paid in full. What that likely means is that anyone who received more than two months severance after the October layoff might be out the remainder, at least temporarily, as of today ... just in time for Christmas.

From Tribune's internal Q&A via LA Observed:

All ongoing severance payments, deferred compensation and other payments to former employees have been discontinued and will be the subject of later proceedings before the Court. Please contact call the Tribune Benefits Service Center at 800-872-2222 for details on your specific situation.

* UPDATE: LA Observed has a memo from LA Times HR that says severance payments are going forward. The HR memo also blames reports to the contrary on "public speculation," despite the fact the information came from one of their own in-house Q&A memos. The check is in the mail!

— TJ Sullivan in LA