Comments on: Three Auto State Senators “Said in a Statement”

By: rosalind

rosalind — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:42:43 +0000

the acceleration continues - from laobserved:

Mark Lacter has been following the afternoon’s developments on Sam Zell preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, if he can’t renegotiate the loans…

link

By: bmaz

bmaz — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:39:58 +0000

Yep, their online effort is pathetic. The content is there, you will just never find it due to their lame presentation. My 13 year old daughter could walk in and do a better job. Just horrid. Otis took pride in Times Mirror, and it showed. In the 80s and much, if not all, of the 90s, it was second only to the NYT. Just a fabulous paper.

By: rosalind

rosalind — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:25:09 +0000

i stopped reading the print version months ago, and the online layout is a horror, impossible to navigate.

i attended a forum on the future of the paper recently that included the new editor. his responses did not give hope that the paper will be able to adapt not die.

if zell carries through on his threat to sell off the iconic downtown building, i vote with the panelist who felt a non-profit Pro Publica type organization should take the reins of the remains and evolve, perchance to thrive.

By: bmaz

bmaz — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:37:40 +0000

Seeing Otis Chandler’s baby go down in flames is very painful for many of us. And the rate of acceleration in the decline over the last two years or so is just mind boggling.

By: rosalind

rosalind — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:11:31 +0000

given the current tattered state of the LA Times, what’s sad is how excited i got reading the article and realizing it didn’t actually suck.

By: emptywheel

emptywheel — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:04:26 +0000

Thanks for posting that rosalind.

That’s what I’ve been saying for a while: GM is very successful overseas, where it operates on par in terms of labor costs with its competitors. And its China success alone made it profitable in some of the last 10 years. (Though, note the article is inaccurate when it says GM made almost no cars in China 5 years ago; it has been building and selling cars in China much longer than that and was already in a very strong position in 2003).

By: Neil

Neil — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:01:55 +0000

Herszenhorn mails it in.

It’s a sad state of affairs if that effort is good enough for his editor. I wonder what the public editor would have say, or the publisher, about your review and editorial suggestions.

$34 Billion seems big enough to be on their radar. The state of the economy is certainly in the news these days. Maybe all the good political/business reporters are tied up.

I’ll be interested to read their next piece on the subject. I don’t expect much more. Resistence to ideas born in the Internet by DFH is great.

By: rosalind

rosalind — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:23:28 +0000

(posted my comment on the wrong thread - reposting here)

a good article in the LA Times focusing on GM’s intertwined foreign & domestic car production.

The president of GM’s Colombia unit, Santiago Chamorro, worries that news of problems in the U.S. could scare away car buyers in South America. “Bankruptcy is not in the interests of our employees, shareholders, suppliers or clients,” he said.

article

By: MadDog

MadDog — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:25:03 +0000

Hey Herszenhorn! You want to do some actual reporting on this?

Sheesh EW, give Davey a break! It’s the weekend. Nobody works the weekend. /snark

Seriously, I totally agree! Davey mailed this one in.

By: emptywheel

emptywheel — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:19:21 +0000

True enough. But doesn’t that mean they ought to at least be able to report accurately on NY’s Senator?