The Orange County Register is reportedly undergoing a mass exodus of leadership and staffers under the new ownership of Digital First Media.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register Editor Rob Curley will step down Thursday. Citing unnamed sources, the Times claims a full 70 staffers have been targeted for layoffs.
"I like the fact that we, as a major metropolitan newspaper, can be a strong reflection of our community. The Register has always been known for taking these big chances visually. It's caring. It's thorough. It puts the Brea girls winning the state basketball championships on the cover," Curley told the Times.
He also expressed sadness about the impending layoffs.
Orange County’s paper of record has been through alot in recent years including multiple changes of ownership, bankruptcies, mass hirings and layoffs, and an ill-fated focus on print over online content with a high-priced paywall to access the website.
A federal bankruptcy court approved Digital First Media’s $52.3 million for the paper last week after the Department of Justice intervened to to blockTribune Publishing from buying the paper on the grounds that it would create a Southern California newspaper monopoly.
Ironically, Digital First Media already owns nine newspapers in Southern California, including the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Daily Breeze in Torrance and the Pasadena Star-News.
In its failed effort to convince the court that Tribune, the Los Angeles Times' parent company, would be best equipped to serve Orange County readers, a Tribune spokeswoman argued that Digital First Media “will be less able to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies, with the likely effect that the journalism serving the local communities will be diminished."