Union-Tribune to fold its operation into the Los Angeles Times?

The Union-Tribune, which faced declining circulation and a shrinkage in its newsroom in 2017, continues to draw closer to its big northern sister, the Los Angeles Times and its satellites.

Both papers, owned by Chicago-based tronc, have begun to accelerate the content-sharing that some think will ultimately end with the folding of San Diego’s operation into the Times. Last Wednesday, the U-T’s “Local Reports” section on page B-2 covered Costa Mesa with a December 22 story by Luke Money, Costa Mesa City Hall reporter for the tronc-owned Daily Pilot, about a house whose Christmas decorations garnered 23 million Facebook views. Last year’s “Valentine’s Day Massacre” saw a raft of reporters, editors, and photographers hit the streets on February 14, and there are fears that similarly timed cuts are in the works for the new year.

“Today, we’re reducing our newsroom by seven positions,” wrote editor and publisher Jeff Light at the time. “In an organization of our size, it is a small number, but that does not lessen the sense of loss everyone in our newsroom will feel today.”