LOS ANGELES -- Nearly 300 irate Los Angeles Times readers gathered today outside the Times Building in downtown for a lively protest against the firing of longtime popular columnist Robert Scheer.
Chanting ‘‘No Scheer, No Times’’ and ‘‘Bring Back Bob,’’ protestors carried signs that read '‘Firing Scheer is Scheer Madness’’ and “Fire Johnson, Not Scheer.’’
Protesters distributed slices of Wonderbread to passersbys to signify the blanding of the paper. Several of the activists in costume performed a guerrilla theater skit, portraying Jeff Johnson as a willing tool of a corporate billionaire.
With only 48 hours advance notice by e-mail announcement, the word had traveled fast with Times readers traveling from as far away as Orange County to participate.
A delegation of protesters requested a meeting with publisher Jeff Johnson, who reportedly has privately told people that he hated every word that Scheer wrote.
Johnson refused to commit to attending a meeting with readers instead he referring them instead to Editor of the Editorial Page, Andrés Martinez and Op-Ed Editor, Nicholas Goldberg. The protestors declined the offer explaining they wanted to speak to the person who fired Scheer and had the power to re-hire him.
It was officially announced on Friday, Nov. 11th that LA Times publisher Jeff Johnson fired Robert Scheer, who had worked at Times for 30 years, the last 12 as a weekly columnist on the op-ed page. Scheer had a substantial following, and very often his columns would be on top of the paper's list of most e-mailed stories.
Full report:
Hundreds of LA Times Readers Protest Firing of Columnist Robert Scheer
by LA Times Reader
