A secret group of investors bought LA Weekly, then fired most of its writers and editors

On Wednesday, a group called Semanal Media finished its purchase of Los Angeles alt-weekly newspaper LA Weekly — then promptly laid off nine of the 13 members of the editorial staff, including all five editors and all but one staff writer. "We were expecting there to be some pain with the sale," tweeted Mara Shalhoup, who was editor of the publication until Wednesday. "But we weren't expecting the Red Wedding. That's how deep the cuts are." Voice Media Group put LA Weekly, founded in 1978, up for sale in January, saying it was profitable.

http://theweek.com