What will happen now to the Los Angeles Times?  

Its parent company, Tribune, buried under a mountain of debt, has filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving the future of the once golden paper murky at best.

Ironically, the Times is still making money, but is being dragged down by the enormous debt load of the Tribune company which came about when it was taken private last year.

Although the Tribune Company owns other papers and television stations, the LA Times is its trophy.

And yet, hundreds of editorial people were laid off recently, cutting nearly in half the troop strength of the paper over a seven year period.

Like many other papers, the LA Times has been trying to shift its focus more and more toward its website. The problem is, no newspaper has really yet come up with a business model that can make money offering a free news service on the web and it is unlikely the LA Times will be the first to do so.

As bad as the situation is for the newspaper, the real victims here are the people of Los Angeles. The Times will never be the same again-much like a person dragged under the wheels of a hit and run driver. Survive, maybe? Thrive? Not likely.

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