Los Angeles Times

====Circulation====
[[File:AbandonedLosAngelesTimesVendingMachine2011.jpg|thumb|An abandoned ''Los Angeles Times'' vending machine in [[Covina, California]], in 2011]]
The ''Times'' has suffered continued decline in distribution. Reasons offered for the circulation drop included a price increase<ref>Shah, Diane, "The New Los Angeles Times" ''Columbia Journalism Review'' 2002, 3.</ref> and a rise in the proportion of readers preferring to read the online version instead of the print version.<ref>Rainey, James, "Newspaper Circulation Continues to Fall", ''Los Angeles Times'' May 1, 2007: D1.</ref> Editor Jim O'Shea, in an internal memo announcing a May 2007, mostly voluntary, [[reduction in force]], characterized the decrease in circulation as an "industry-wide problem" which the paper had to counter by "growing rapidly on-line", "break[ing] news on the Web and explain[ing] and analyz[ing] it in our newspaper."<ref>{{cite news |author=E&P Staff |title=California Split: 57 More Job Cuts at 'L.A. Times' |url=http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1003590597 |work=Editor & Publisher |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |date=May 25, 2007 |access-date=May 28, 2007}}</ref>

The ''Times'' closed its [[San Fernando Valley]] printing plant in early 2006, leaving press operations to the Olympic plant and to [[Orange County, California|Orange County]]. Also that year the paper announced its circulation had fallen to 851,532, down 5.4 percent from 2005. The ''Times''{{'}}s loss of circulation was the largest of the top ten newspapers in the U.S.<ref>{{cite news |author=Lieberman, David |url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-05-08-newspaper-circulation_x.htm |title=Newspaper sales dip, but websites gain |work=[[USA Today]] |date=May 9, 2006}}</ref> Some observers believed that the drop was due to the retirement of circulation director Bert Tiffany. Others thought the decline was a side effect of a succession of short-lived editors who were appointed by publisher Mark Willes after publisher [[Otis Chandler]] relinquished day-to-day control in 1995.<ref name="mcdougal"/> Willes, the former president of [[General Mills]], was criticized for his lack of understanding of the newspaper business, and was derisively referred to by reporters and editors as ''The Cereal Killer''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Shaw, David |url=https://articles.latimes.com/1999/dec/20/news/ss-46240/26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024050929/http://articles.latimes.com/1999/dec/20/news/ss-46240/26 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 24, 2015 |title=Crossing the Line |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref> Subsequently, the Orange County plant closed in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koren |first=James Rufus |date=February 18, 2016 |title=Former L.A. Times plant in Costa Mesa may become creative office space |url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/tn-dpt-me-0218-la-times-building-20160217-story.html |access-date=July 15, 2023 |website=Daily Pilot |language=en-US}}</ref> 

The ''Times''{{'}}s reported daily circulation in October 2010 was 600,449,<ref>{{cite web |author=Bill Cromwell |url=http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Newspapers_24/Newspaper-circ-declines-lessen-again.asp |title=Like Newspaper Revenue, the Decline in Circ Shows Signs of Slowing |publisher=editorandpublisher.com |date=April 26, 2010 |access-date=April 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027210836/http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Newspapers_24/Newspaper-circ-declines-lessen-again.asp |archive-date=October 27, 2010}}</ref> down from a peak of 1,225,189 daily and 1,514,096 Sunday in April 1990.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://latimes.com/la-mediagroup-times-history-htmlstory.html|title=The Los Angeles Times' history|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=May 15, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=As told to RJ Smith |url=http://www.lamag.com/featuredarticle.aspx?id=1050 |title=Ripped from the headlines - Los Angeles Magazine |publisher=Lamag.com |access-date=January 12, 2009}}</ref>