Time To Say Goodbye Old Media, Same as the New Media with Sara Yasin
Apr 8, 2026
Sara Yasin, journalist and editor who led teams at BuzzFeed News and the Los Angeles Times and now runs The Key. She talks about navigating legacy vs digital newsrooms. She discusses newsroom culture, Palestinian identity in reporting, layoffs and moral costs, coverage limits on Gaza, and why audiences turn to long-form platforms.
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Managing Decline Is The New Senior Role
- Senior newsroom leaders are increasingly hired to manage decline, not to experiment or grow digital audiences.
- Sara Yasin explains she was brought into the LA Times to digitize and grow younger readers but faced constrained budgets and no cavalry for real innovation.
Leaving The LA Times Amid Layoffs And Personal Stakes
- Sara left the LA Times in January 2024 amid layoffs and a sense she couldn't lead transformation under decline.
- At 35 when hired, she felt uniquely positioned yet overwhelmed by combining newsroom leadership with personal stakes as a Palestinian.
How Complexity Becomes A Cover For Both Sides Framing
- 'It's complicated' journalism defaults to reflexive both-sides framing that silences valid scrutiny, especially on Palestine.
- Yasin links this to autopilot newsroom systems, lazy sourcing, and a lack of power analysis in reporting.