Tech reporter Contreras among the LA Times layoffs

Brian Contreras

Technology reporter Brian Contreras was among those laid off at the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.

He had been covering internet platforms and the influencer economy with the technology team.

Contreras has written about Black creators leaving TikTok over racial bias, Donald Trump’s social media afterlife and spirit mediums’ shift to virtual visits, among other topics.

Contreras started with The Times in 2020 as an intern for the Washington bureau before later transitioning to the Business desk. He has previously written for the Seattle Times, San Antonio Express-News, Chautauquan Daily and Stanford Daily.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.