In a drastic effort to reduce mounting expenses, the LA Times has announced the departure of several veteran journalists from their staff.
The cost reduction campaign comes as many print newspaper and magazines are suffering shrinking revenue returns due to online competition.
Chuck Phillips, who won a Pulitzer in 1999 for his work on music business corruption, is one the journalists reported to be leaving the paper.
He is well known in Hip-Hop culture for his controversial stories surrounding the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, The Notorious B.I.G.
In 2002, Phillips wrote an investigative story implicating Wallace in the drive-by murder of Shakur.
The story alleged that Wallace ventured to Las Vegas the day of Shakur’s murder and paid the Southside Crips to be the hitmen, and that he also gave them a specific gun he wanted used in the killing.
For sources, Phillips stated he used unnamed gang members and informants.
The veracity of these claims were immediately challenged by Biggie confidant Lil Cease, who publicly claimed Biggie was in a New Jersey recording studio the night of Shakur’s murder.
In March, Phillips wrote an explosive story on Tupac’s 1994 shooting, alleging that the plot was orchestrated by moguls Sean Combs and James “Jimmy Henchmen” Rosemond.
Both men vehemently denied the allegations and threatened libel lawsuits.
An expose by The Smoking Gun website revealed that Phllips based his story around forged FBI documents written by James Sabatino, a con man incarcerated in federal prison.
In April, the LA Times retracted the story and wrote a lengthy apology to Combs and Rosemond, stating that the “report relied heavily on information the Times no longer believes to be credible.”
Phillips could not be reached for comment at press time.
