Patch closures and layoffs to roll out over week

AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong got the Patch troops on the phone this morning for a conference call in which they expected to hear which news sites and editors would be dropped. Instead, Armstrong said the shutdown or partnering of more than 300 Patch sites would occur over the next week. Going forward, he said, Patch would focus more clearly on the 500 "most important" towns, according to a report at Romenesko.

Shortly after the 6 a.m. Pacific conference call began, Armstrong told someone in the room (a "higher-up" per Romenesko) that he was fired and to get out. The person had apparently offended the boss by taking out a camera.

AOL Patch news sites lightly cover a number of communities in Los Angeles and around the region, but there seems to be almost no pattern to which areas they pick. The news coverage is spotty at best, with typically one editor and a small network of community bloggers. The Patch presence has become valued in some sections of LA, more superfluous in others. Nationally it represents a major experiment by AOL to create a new local news model, but it doesn't seem to be working. Armstrong said he is now in charge and that what the effort needed is "leadership." But then he fires someone for using a camera?