COMMENTARY
The (LA) Times it is a changing
By Percy D. Della
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:34:00 11/28/2008
Filed Under: Pacquiao
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA—When it comes to Manny Pacquiao, California’s newspaper of record has made a complete turnaround.
Call it a case of “if you can’t lick ‘em, join ‘em,” or it could be that the newspaper’s editors and marketing whiz kids have come to realize that if the guy sells tickets, he could as well sell newspapers.
The Los Angeles Times, it is a changing.
Where before it saw no big hurry in writing “advancers” or pre-fight pieces that could only make Pacman promoter Bob Arum grin from ear to ear—the Times has suddenly turned into a veritable assembly line of stories heralding Manny’s dream fight with Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6.
A digital library search has turned up at least 15 Times “advancers” on the Pacman-Golden Boy bout at the MGM Grand since August.
The eminent columnist Bill Dwyre has written at least four of these pieces.
Dwyre is familiar to legions of Filipino-American readers of the Times. He was once the Times Sports editor. Among the writers in his watch was the great columnist Jim Murray.
“Manny Pacquiao versus Oscar De La Hoya has a chance to become the most chewed-on boxing match since Tyson versus Holyfield,” wrote Dwyre in his column of Nov. 17. “It is still 19 days until the celebrated pair steps into the ring at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas for what has become the most anticipated 12 rounds of the year.”
In a piece on Nov. 14 after De La Hoya’s media day at his mountaintop training camp, Dwyre had this to say:
“This, of course, is boxing at its promotional best. De La Hoya-Pacquiao is the biggest fight in the eyes of the public since De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5, 2007.”
The noise created by its rival newspapers and the boxing websites about the forthcoming bout may have forced the Times’ hand to keep a close eye on Pacman and of course De La Hoya who Dwyre says “remains the box office bonanza for his sport.”
“If he (Oscar) fights, it is a huge deal,” added Dwyre. “If he fights somebody really good, they start throwing around the word mega.”
Internet sites, including the boxing dotcoms have contributed to the erosion of newspaper earnings through the years. Except for the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, most major American dailies, including the Times have experienced a decrease in circulation over the years.
Recent Audit Bureau of Circulations figures show that among 500 newspapers that had reported, weekday circulation was down 4.6 percent and Sunday circulation dipped 4.8 percent.
Recent published reports said the LA Times experienced its largest decline in newsroom personnel and the largest drop in circulation.
At its peak, the LA Times newsroom employed 1,300 people. It is now about half as many.
Circulation wise, the Times had weekday sales of 739,000, down 5.2 percent from a year earlier. That is the fourth-highest figure in the country, but far below its high of 1.1 million in early this decade, according to the published reports.
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