Former LA Timeser Leo Wolinsky named editor of Daily Variety

Leo Wolinsky, a former top editor at the Los Angeles Times, has been named editor of Daily Variety.

Before leaving the paper last year following a disagreement with editor Russ Stanton, Wolinsky worked at the Times for 31 years in a variety of senior positions, including executive editor and managing editor. He was part of Pulitzer Prize-winning teams that covered the Los Angeles riots in 1992 and the Northridge earthquake in 1994. In 2008 he served as associate editor in charge of features and entertainment for seven months, his only previous experience covering the show business world.

In his new role, which starts in January, Wolinsky will oversee the print versions of Daily Variety and its sibling New York publication, Daily Variety Gotham. He will report to Tim Gray, group editor of Variety, who was promoted to the job this past spring when former editor-in-chief Peter Bart, who still writes for the paper, stepped aside after more than 20 years in the top spot at the Hollywood business paper. (Disclosure: I worked at Variety, as did the editor of this post, as did the editor of this post's editor.)

Brian Gott, publisher of Variety, said Wolinsky will be part of a trio of editors reporting to Gray in a new structure. The paper is currently considering external and internal candidates to oversee its weekly and online versions.

Variety's parent company, Reed Elsevier, unsuccessfully tried to sell the 104-year-old trade newspaper and its other publications last year. It recently sold industry magazines Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News and tech magazine Twice to NewBay Media. Variety, Gott said, is no longer for sale.

--Ben Fritz

Photo: Leo Wolinsky. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Comments

[Timber]

Well, if it didn't get sold to NewBay, then that was a bullet dodged. DHD has a rather caustic take on the hire.