Eddy to address troops?

LAT Publisher Eddy Hartenstein is not exactly known for public comments, but his decision to run an L-shaped NBC ad on the front page is causing a firestorm in the newsroom. There's talk he might even address the troops. Meantime, a petition is making its way around the paper that protests the ad, which is in the form of a fake news story (different type and an "Advertisement" notation at the top). As Kevin noted at LAO, the original ad was going to be a reverse-L that ran the entire sixth column, the spot traditionally reserved for the lead story. Seniors editors complained, and for a while it appeared as if Hartenstein would relent. From what I understand, the truncated ad - changed to an L-shape and moved to the bottom half of the page - was inserted late last night, so lots of folks were surprised when they picked up the paper this morning. All this is bound to be compared with the Staples scandal 10 years ago, but keep in mind that in 1999 the paper wasn't desperate for cash. Apparently, year-to-date ad revenues are even worse than last year - and that was pretty bad.


More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
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Letter from Down Under: Welcome to the Homogenocene
One last Florida photo
Signs of Saturday: No refund
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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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