Getlin, Lippincott to Leave LAT (UPDATED)

They called it Black Monday for a reason. 150 people on the editorial side of the Los Angeles Times, taking a buyout or waiting for the axe to fall. Today some of the names of those leaving have trickled out to the public, but not all. And though it remains to be seen how the Book Review will fare – beyond LA Observed’s report that the standalone hybrid with Opinion is dead as of July 27 – Josh Getlin, the paper’s publishing reporter these last few years, will not be sticking around. His name was on Tell Zell’s list, and he confirmed the news to me by email late this afternoon.

I wish I could say I’m surprised by the news. But lately Getlin’s work, long an example of consummate professionalism about the publishing industry, had taken a more soundbite-driven turn. Some of the newer pieces, like the weekly book-to-film column “Bookit”, worked fine. Others, launched more recently, struck me as a stopgap, a poor use of a good reporter’s time and energy. And now he’s gone, and the publishing industry will be poorer for it.

Suffice to say between this news and the shuttering of Publishing News and the Bat Segundo Show, it’s kind of a sucky week in publishing town. And it’s only Tuesday.

UPDATE, ⁷⁄₁₆: LA Observed has confirmed that Book Review assistant editor Sara Lippincott will be leaving the paper and her position eliminated. I only worked with her once, just a few weeks ago, but if you want to know why my review of Zoe Ferraris’ FINDING NOUF turned out so well, it was because of her thoughtful, incisive edits – a hallmark of the Book Review.