Advertisement

Daily Variety editor out after 10 months

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety’s attempt to shake things up by hiring an outsider with a broad newspaper background hasn’t worked out.

Leo Wolinsky, a longtime top editor at the Los Angeles Times who was named editor of Daily Variety in January, was let go Monday by Variety Editor Tim Gray, people familiar with the situation said. He had been in charge of Variety’s weekday paper in Los Angeles and New York, while other editors handled the Variety.com website and a weekly print edition.

Advertisement

People familiar with the situation said Wolinsky and Daily Variety were not a good fit for each other.

Wolinsky worked at The Times for 31 years in a variety of senior positions, including executive editor and managing editor, and was pushed out in 2008 following a disagreement with Editor Russ Stanton. He was a surprise choice for the Daily Variety job given that his only experience in entertainment was a seven-month stint as associate editor in charge of features and entertainment for The Times.

It wasn’t immediately clear who, if anyone, would replace Wolinsky.

His dismissal, first reported by The New York Times, comes as the Hollywood trade papers are facing significant business challenges with a decline in advertising and rising competition from online outlets such as Deadline.com and TheWrap.com. The Hollywood Reporter, Variety’s long-standing competitor, is this week shifting from a daily paper to a glossy weekly magazine.

-- Ben Fritz and Joe Flint

Advertisement