On Thursday, April 9, 2009, The Los Angeles Times newspaper placed an advertisement disguised as a column of news on its front page!  A major American newspaper cannot do this.  It is totally unacceptable.  The cheapening of the LA Times over the past year due to financial problems and poor management has gradually gutted the paper.  It’s once high-quality book review section on Sundays is now part of another section and has become a smattering of generalized culture articles.

As soon as I found out about the disguised ad on Thursday I ran to the phone and cancelled my 12-year subscription to the paper.  The woman on the phone asked what my reason was and I told her I was disgusted by the ad placement.  Perhaps someone in the paper’s management will realize that the end has arrived and save us all some trees by shutting down the presses and letting the reporters go work for an internet news organization.

Newspapers are in trouble.  It’s imbeciles like the ones running the LA Times that make a recovery impossible for them.

Rest in peace, Los Angeles Times.