John Horn shared the news to Twitter on Tuesday that he has left radio station KPCC, which became part of LAist in January.
“Thanks to all who listened to ‘The Frame,’ ‘Hollywood: The Sequel,’ or ‘Retake.’ Life in public radio has been fulfilling and educational, having entered with no real radio experience,” he tweeted.
“We have shared stories found nowhere else, while also covering the most important in entertainment news. This breadth has only been possible due to our phenomenal staff, whose hard work allowed great guests to share their own unique stories,” he added.
A link to “Hollywood: The Sequel” on LAIst now leads to a 404 error. On LinkedIn, Horn noted that his last day at LAist was June 9, just 4 days before 12% of the staff were cut.
The layoffs eliminated 21 of the organization’s 175 positions including prominent journalists like podcaster Erick Galindo. Reporter Josie Huang noted that the cuts were “especially painful coming after our union challenged the wisdom behind executive compensation, which included paying a former CEO $500,000 per year for multiple years.”
A spokesperson for the LAist SAG-AFTRA unit issued a statement at the time that 10% staff cuts were announced: “For months, we have heard about how the company was able to manage our budget shortfall. In our last pledge drive, we hit our benchmark. Our company says the ‘restructuring’ will help us become more ‘cross-platform’ and be more of a digital newsroom — yet valuable colleagues in podcasts and digital teams are being laid off.”
“We’ve also lost people who were invaluable in getting reporting across these platforms. Management’s decision to cut 10% of staff does not make sense, and we will seek to ensure our unit colleagues are properly supported in a way that reflects their years of service,” the statement read.
According to tax records for 2021, former SCPR president and CEO Bill Davis earned $583,356 in total compensation while retired and another former executive, Jon McTaggart, listed as the former CEO of APMG (American Public Media Group), earned a total of $558,767.00 for working part-time.
In 2021, LAist reported $42 million in revenue, which was largely from donations.
Davis told TheWrap on June 14 that he is “not involved and not on the payroll” anymore.
