LAT's casualty count: 57

Editor Jim O'Shea said that the vast majority involves voluntary departures and that "we will replace a significant number of people, though, to offset the decline." The 57 number was a little under the 70 that had been bandied about. That leaves the newsroom with around 850 staffers, give or take.

Some highly talented people are leaving the staff and I hate to see them go. No one enjoys going through something like this, least of all me. This is a time of wrenching change at our paper and in our industry. I wish those leaving all the best. I pledge to do anything I can to help them with their futures. Now it is time to move forward and meet the huge challenges ahead. Even after this reduction, we have a strong, large and talented staff eager to tackle the industry-wide problems that have made staff adjustments an unfortunate reality in nearly every paper in the nation.

The full O'Shea memo is on jump.