Amazing quotes by exiting LAT editor, refusing cuts and urging investment plus journos' leadership

From NewYorkTimes.com: The editor of the L.A. Times, James E. O'Shea, left Monday after refusing to carry out another round of newsroom budget cuts sought by publisher David Hiller — 15 months after Hiller fired the paper's previous editor over the same kind of dispute. The showdown and O'Shea's parting comments made for a remarkable statement by an editor - especially one who had been seen as a Tribune loyalist, sent to Los Angeles to calm a rebellious staff.

"Even in hard times, wise investment — not retraction — is the long-term answer to the industry's troubles," O'Shea wrote, while suggesting that Tribune executives have been unable to see the logic of anything but budget cuts.

"Journalists and not accountants should seize responsibility for the financial health of our newspapers," he wrote, "so journalists can make decisions about the size of our staffs and how much news remains in our papers and Web sites."