Weather page updates

Since the change Sunday that took the weather page down to a half-page, about two dozen readers have sent e-mails and called to comment. Here is a summary of the suggestions:

Bring back various cities.

Editors are considering readers' requests to reinstate certain cities (though adding one means another will have to be removed).

• For readers bemoaning the loss of Colorado Springs, Colo., in the listings, editors note that the city is between two cities still listed (Denver and Pueblo) and say Colorado Springs’ temperatures aren’t too far off from those cities.
• Mission Viejo is still on the map, though not on the list; editors say they’ll add it to the list again (making it one of the few cities that is on both the list and map).

Bring back the daily high-low precipitation column in the U.S. and World lists.

• The list of California cities still shows information for yesterday, today and tomorrow, but  U.S. and World lists now show only today and tomorrow. Editors cut the “yesterday” column figuring Southern California travelers would rather know what to expect on the day they arrive than what happened the day before. They’re thinking of resurrecting the column of information (but it would mean the loss of the forecast information for tomorrow.)

Font size:

• Some say the typeface is too small, but one reader thought fonts should be made smaller to fit in more text. Graphics editor Les Dunseith says that the font sizes are the same as before. (And the text for the listings section is the smallest option available.)

More changes based on readers' requests: 

• “I think we may be able to squeeze Ventura County sunrise/moonrise info back onto the page,” says Dunseith. “We also think we’ve figured out a way to fit tiny versions of the phases of the moon on the page.”

These tweaks and other fixes based on readers' suggestions should start showing up in the paper within the next few days. Editors can be reached at yyweather@latimes.com.

Claire Noland named Obituary Editor

Here's the memo from Editor Russ Stanton:

Colleagues:

Claire Noland, deputy obituary editor, is being named Obituary Editor, effective immediately. She will manage the day-to-day operations and planning of our obituary department, supervising a writing and editing staff of four.

Claire joined the department as deputy editor in January 2006, and her strong editing skills and keen news judgment have served the department well. In addition, she has honed her latent writing skills, contributing dozens of highly readable obituaries on a range of topics.

Previously, Claire spent 11 years in Sports, where she worked as an assignment editor overseeing both short- and long-range coverage planning. She also served as sports copy chief, after having been hired as a copy editor and news editor. She returned to Sports last year to work as an editor at the Beijing Olympics.

Before joining The Times, Claire worked as a sports copy editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Los Angeles Daily News. She began her journalism career as a copy editor at the Antelope Valley Press.
Claire was born and raised in Lancaster, has a bachelor’s degree in English from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles and did graduate work at UC Riverside.

She will report to Managing Editor Jon Thurber.

Russ Stanton
Editor

Michael Jackson news, Iran updates contribute to record Web numbers

Here's the memo with Web numbers for June from Meredith Artley, managing editor, online:

Colleagues: Our strong, swift coverage of major events in the past month attracted a record-breaking 26 million unique users to our site. That’s up 50% over June 2008. Those 26 million users generated more than 155 million page views, 30% growth over last year. Visits from our local audience grew 30% over this time last year, a good sign that more of our immediate community is turning to us for local news as well as stories in our backyard that have a national or global impact. Speaking of...

Our coverage of Michael Jackson’s tragic death continues to be the most insightful and most thorough anywhere. Our nimble, well-sourced team continues to break news daily on L.A. Now. The photo galleries, which are being constantly updated, have drawn millions of page views. We’ll be launching a few impressive interactive features in the coming weeks as the story unfolds and becomes more complex. We set a new daily record for page views the day Jackson died.

It’s important to note that our coverage of the Jackson story is not the sole reason for this readership leap.

During the height of the crisis that grew out of the Iran elections, readers flocked to Babylon & Beyond to read a constant stream of updates around the clock from Borzou Daragahi in Tehran, Alexandra Zavis and Amber Smith here in L.A. and Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo. Borzou's story of “Neda” was particularly well-read and commented upon.

Readers also came to us for coverage of Farrah Fawcett’s death -- the obituary, appreciations and galleries were all of great interest.

And a hometown team won the NBA finals in the past month --  readers flocked to us for the coverage that included fast-paced staff updates during game time, sharp analysis, live blogging and chats, outstanding photo galleries and video analysis.
 
What a month.

What’s next? We’re throwing a lot of energy at the site redesign, launching in mid-July. Much more to come on this.

When 'mediums' becomes the matter

The article reported on a change in staffing at The Times, a fairly serious matter. But some readers saw an equally worthy topic in the choice of a particular word. Gene Aker of Los Angeles, in fact, saw what he considered a misused word as a dire sign of the changing Times.

The line in question: "Two senior Los Angeles Times editors were given new responsibilities Thursday as part of an effort to create a 24-hour newsroom serving multiple mediums."

"Mediums? Individuals through whom others seek to communicate with the dead? Do you even have a copy desk these days?" Aker wrote, wondering if this apparent goof reflected "the downward spiral of the quality of your newspaper."

(Aker wasn't alone in seeing the specter of psychics in that phrase. On Friday Alan Mutter's Reflections of a Newsosaur blog had a post featured an exchange about the word.)

In fact, Times copy editors put some consideration into using "mediums" (the word, not the psychics). Henry Fuhrmann, who oversees style and grammar in the newsroom, explained in a note to Aker.

Weather news, Sunday comics changing July 5

(The map above was used by editors in determining which cities to keep on the weather page.)

The weather page will be streamlined starting Sunday, and there are changes as well to the Sunday comics. Both moves are to being made to save newsprint.

Details on changes to the Sunday comics pages are below.

About the weather pages, graphics department editor Les Dunseith says the news, information and listings that used to take up almost a whole page will now be fit on half a page.

In carrying out the cuts, Dunseith said, a decision was made to keep the focus on California. The lists of temperatures and conditions continues for 73 California cities (four were deleted); cuts were made mostly in the lists of U.S. cities (77 U.S. will be listed, down from 93) and  international cities (37 remain; 43 were dropped).  Some other features, including diving conditions and phases of the moon, were eliminated. (Those and more, of course, can still be found online.)

In choosing what to keep and what to cut, editors consulted census data and researched population trends.

Of the California cities listed, editors looked for overlap with the map that will also show cities and temperatures. The four places that ended up being cut from the page completely (Blythe, Mt. Wilson, Rialto, Santa Rosa) were either small in population or close enough to listed cities that the weather information was essentially the same. Editors kept representative locations where temperature or precipitation extremes are often noted in news stories (Woodland Hills, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, etc.)

To decide which national cities to keep, editors checked a graphic from 2007 (shown above) that showed U.S. regions from which California residents have moved or where Californians’ family members are most likely to have relocated. (The map was based primarily on IRS data.) That’s one reason the list tends to skew a bit toward the West and Northeast, with fewer cities from the Southeast and Upper Midwest.

To choose international cities, editors used census data showing the native countries of SoCal residents, and they tried to retain locations with large local immigrant populations. (That’s one reason a larger percentage of Asian cities than Canadian cities remains.)

Dunseith says the graphics department worked hard for a design that would be elegant and logical: "The ultimate goal was to make the information as helpful and useful for as many people as possible despite the smaller footprint." Readers can send their reactions and suggestions to yyweather@latimes.com.

John Arthur to leave The Times

Editor Russ Stanton sent the following to the staff just after the announcement of masthead changes:

Colleagues:

Executive Editor John Arthur will be the leaving The Times after a distinguished 23 years here.

John and I did not agree on the need for the just-announced masthead changes, and we differ on the best approach to reaching our goals.

This decision was a difficult one. John has served in a host of leadership roles at The Times that have included assistant city editor in the Orange County edition, assistant national editor, editor of the Valley edition and managing editor with responsibility for the three regional editions as well as the national edition.

He later served as deputy Page 1 editor/nights, Page 1 editor, managing editor and, most recently, executive editor.

His numerous accomplishments include helping direct coverage of the Northridge earthquake and the North Hollywood bank shootout, for which the Times won Pulitzer Prizes in the breaking-news category.

John has served this newsroom -- and our readers -- with pride and distinction, and for that owe him our gratitude and our best wishes.

Thurber, Harvey joining Times masthead

Here's a memo from Editor Russ Stanton announcing organizational changes in The Times newsroom:

Colleagues:

The launch of the redesigned latimes.com in the coming weeks is a good reminder of the continually changing nature of our business, and our need to adapt to the shifting reading, viewing and consumption habits of our ever-expanding audiences.

To that end, we are making some changes at the masthead level to improve upon our commitment to a 24-hour newsgathering operation, the goal being to continue to expand the reach of the high-quality journalism produced by the Los Angeles Times.

First, Randy Harvey, our Sports editor since 2006, will become associate editor, effective immediately. In this role, Randy will take on a host of broad and important responsibilities that currently keep me from spending more time in the newsroom. Chief among them:

--Helping complete the implementation of the strategic plan that we developed last year. To compete and thrive, our newsroom must operate as a fully functional 24/7 operation, feeding print, the Web, mobile devices, television, radio, Twitter, Facebook and anything else that helps us increase -- and better connect with -- our audience. Randy will work closely with me to ensure that organizational and journalistic decisions are made in accordance with that plan.

--Be the point person for editorial with the other departments of The Times (advertising, marketing, circulation and operations), including managing company- and corporate-wide initiatives.

Randy is getting these additional responsibilities because of his outstanding leadership of our Sports section, the best in the country. The Sports staff has consistently led the newsroom in broadening our coverage beyond print, and Randy has overseen that effort by sharpening our focus to the things that matter the most to our readers, and then owning those areas in every medium in which our readers consume news.

Also taking on an expanded role is Jon Thurber, who will become managing editor, print, effective immediately. Jon, our obituary editor since 1998, will now have primary responsibility for coordinating and carrying out the content plans for the newspaper and other print products produced by our newsroom, including overseeing the front page and the A1 desk.

Over the last 11 years, Jon has built our obituary desk into one of the best in the country. The formidable work of Jon and his staff -- both in print and online -- has been front and center in recent days with the spate of celebrity deaths we’ve covered.

Jon and Meredith Artley will work closely together -- and with our section editors --  to ensure that the needs of the paper and the website are being met and that our coverage on these platforms is complementary. We are changing Meredith’s title to managing editor, online, and she will continue to oversee our digital properties, which will expand over time.

Davan Maharaj will continue as managing editor, news, and it will remain his responsibility to supply engaging journalism so that Jon and Meredith can fulfill their respective missions. Davan, Jon, Meredith and Randy will report to me.

D-day coverage criticized

On Saturday, June 6, about two dozen readers took the time to send e-mails or call The Times to complain about what wasn't there: "Why no D-day coverage in the first news section of The Times on June 6?" wrote Ray DiPietro of Rancho Palos Verdes. "I have no doubt that extensive front page coverage will be provided to President Obama's speech at Normandy in the Sunday, June 7 issue. But it is a mystery to me why the Times would not print today .... the story of the 65th Anniversary of the D-day invasion and the story of the incredibly brave men who made it happen."

The lack of coverage "is a stinging insult to all the veterans who gave their lives and those who survived the horrors of that day," Lauren Flahive of West Covina wrote on June 6.

DePietro was right about the next-day coverage: On June 7, The Times published an article about the president's speech at Normandy, France, noting the 65th anniversary of the D-day invasion. Why didn't editors make note of the history behind June 6 on Saturday?

It isn't a new question, and it isn't one asked only about D-day.

Clinton photo: 'Disrespectful' or 'a telling gesture'?

Reader J.C. Devin of Malibu sent a note of complaint regarding the image that accompanied a June 6 story about a couple who, federal authorities say, conspired for decades to provide classified information to the Cuban government.

The photo of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ran four columns over the 23-inch story and was at the very least, said Devin, "disrespectful."

Wrote Devin: "All those hours of research, fact checking and efforts at journalistic balance were lost when the individual who chose the uncomplimentary [Associated Press] photo of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to accompany your words blew it. The photo, capturing Secretary Clinton in an awkward moment at the news conference, did little to enhance your article or communicate any journalistic integrity of the L.A. Times. The Times' pride in its professionalism should ensure photo choices that support the content of an article and that don't come off as disrespectful."

The caption said, "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, shown at a news conference in Washington, has ordered an internal investigation, a 'comprehensive damage assessment' and a review of State Department security procedures."

Photo editors respond.

Sotomayor, Cardozo and the question of 'Hispanic' vs. 'Latino'

First Hispanic justice: An article in Sunday's Section A about Sonia Sotomayor and former Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo incorrectly used, in the headline and the first three paragraphs, the
term Latino. The article referred to a semantic debate over whether Sotomayor was the first Hispanic to be nominated to the Supreme Court and not Cardozo. The article should have said that advocacy groups
praised Sotomayor, a New-York born Puerto Rican, as the first Hispanic, which prompted political opponents to argue that Cardozo's Portuguese heritage qualified him as the first Hispanic.

So read a Los Angeles Times For the Record that ran June 2.

When it appeared in the newspaper, some on The Times staff wondered: Why was a correction needed? One response might be: Read the May 31 story, which refers to the Pew Hispanic Report's attempt to answer the question, "Just who is a Hispanic?"

The Times picked up the May 31 story from the Chicago Tribune, one of several Tribune-owned news organizations that share news reports. The National desk editor in Los Angeles who handled the story changed the Chicago Tribune reporter’s first several uses of “Hispanic” to “Latino,” observing Times style rules: “Latino is the umbrella term for people of Latin American descent. Use Hispanic only in quotes, in proper names or reports based on census data.”

(A more comprehensive entry in The Times' stylebook under racial and ethnic identification says of “Latino”: “This is the umbrella term for Spanish-surnamed groups in the United States, including Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Central Americans and South Americans.”)

Mapping project, Manny Ramirez, budget 'balancer' among reasons for May growth

Below is the memo from Executive Editor LATimes.com Meredith Artley to the staff detailing some of the projects that brought visitors to latimes.com in May.

Colleagues:

Growth for latimes.com continues. May numbers follow, but first let's look at some outstanding projects and improvements.

Months ago, some brave souls decided to map L.A.'s neighborhoods with help from our readers. They gathered feedback and released revised maps last week and wrote about that process. But they didn't stop there -- existing information from places such as our schools database was added. Then they added demographic information on population, geographical size, income, education, etc. Readers can look at this data by neighborhood, or see where their neighborhood ranks among the city's most ethnically diverse areas. Or the wealthiest. Or even the most divorced. Next, crime data will be layered in. There are endless possibilities of what can be mapped beyond that. Note that this is a project that evolves over time, constantly seeking and reacting to reader feedback. It’s a shining example of the kind of deep, unique service that is key to our future. Congratulations to Ben Welsh, Doug Smith, Megan Garvey, Sandy Poindexter, Maloy Moore and Tom Lauder.

The state budget situation is so complex – if only there was an easy way to understand if or how the budget can be balanced. Enter Evan Halper, Sean Connelley and David Lauter with an interactive budget balancer.

Crossword confusion

Many readers have sent notes like this from Harriett L. Pease of Glendale: "Please do not tell me that you are no longer going to feature Sylvia Burstyn on Sunday's Los Angeles Times crossword puzzles. I have enjoyed her style for years, when she co-authored with Barry Tunick,  and after his untimely death she has done an exemplary job on her own. Sylvia has a cunning sense of humor and I do miss her."

To Pease and other, the editors of Sunday Calendar say this: "Ms. Burstyn is taking some time off. We appreciate your comments and thank you for your interest in the puzzle." Sunday Calendar editor Bret Israel adds that until Burstyn returns, Merl Reagle's puzzles will be published in Arts & Books on Sunday.

Shane Goldmacher joins Times staff in the Sacramento bureau

Here's the memo to the staff from Assistant Managing Editor David Lauter:

I’m extremely happy to announce that we’ve filled a vacancy in our Sacramento bureau with an outstanding reporter who will start work on Monday.

Shane Goldmacher, our new colleague, is someone we’ve had our eyes on for a couple of years. He has been working in Sacramento since 2005, most recently for the Bee, and has quickly developed a reputation as one of the smartest, hardest-working and best-sourced reporters in the Capitol. For the last couple of years, Shane has run the Bee’s online Capitol Alert web portal, while at the same time producing a large number of page-one enterprise stories. His story ideas are excellent, his contacts are terrific, and, in all, he’ll be an extremely welcome addition to our bureau. Before working at the Bee, Shane worked for Capitol Weekly. He’s a graduate of UC Berkeley.

In a difficult budget year, Shane’s hiring is a reminder of the very high priority that we continue to place on being ahead of the story in Sacramento. Cutbacks at other news organizations have meant that fewer and fewer eyes are keeping watch over the governor, the Legislature and the vast state bureaucracy. At the same time, the headlines of the past couple of weeks have vividly reminded us of why those folks need to be watched. Our bureau has been ahead of the story on the state budget all year, despite serious staff shortages, and we intend to stay ahead of it. Hiring Shane will be an important first step.

David Pierson joins Beijing bureau

Here's the announcement to the staff from Deputy Business Editor Marla Dickerson:

Please congratulate David Pierson on his arrival in China as the newest member of the Beijing bureau.
 
A member of The Times Business section, he’ll be covering business and economic issues in one of the world’s most dynamic economies. China is America’s factory floor and Uncle Sam’s banker, and Beijing is seeking a much more assertive role in shaping the future of the world financial order. David will be our point man covering China’s economic rise, and the implication for the United States.

David started at The Times in 2000 as a METPRO, and has covered cops, education and the San Gabriel Valley. He joined the Business staff last fall as a regional economics reporter. David is a graceful writer whose front-page efforts include a Column One profile of an Alhambra Big Boy diner-turned-Asian-noodle joint and what happens to public officials who mess with the Girl Scout-cookie mafia.

David was born in Hong Kong and raised in New Jersey. He studied journalism at St. John’s University in New York. He previously worked at Newsday.

He and his wife Tessa already miss Los Angeles tacos. But David claims that a Chinese sandwich known as rou jia mo – chopped, stewed pork with minced green chilies – is helping to fill the carne asada vacuum.

Voters the 'problem'? Cheney 'spewing'? Says who?

Readers asking last week about a Top of the Ticket blog posting that ran in print, as well as a front-page analysis, had one thing in common: They were objecting to what they called opinion, even bias, in the news pages of The Times. 

Winning heads and minds: Times wins headline award

Here's an excerpt of the note from Assistant Managing Editor Henry Fuhrmann to the staff,  announcing a national headline award. (As an earlier post on the readers' rep journal explained, headlines online sometimes differ from those in print, so not all stories linked below carry the award-winning headlines.)

Colleagues:

The Times has won the headline writers of the year award from the American Copy Editors Society. The judges recognized our team entry for “consistently excellent heads in tight counts, heads that drew readers in and made them want to read the story.”

Further: “Their readouts did more than inform; they continued the brightness that made the stories under them appealing.”

A list of the editors and their headlines follows (here's a link to see the work in published form).

Again, we offer our thanks and congratulations to all involved:

Tina Susman to National desk

Following is the memo to staff from National Editor Roger Smith:

I’m delighted to announce that Tina Susman has joined the National staff in New York. For the past 2 1/2  years Tina has been reporting from The Times' Baghdad bureau, where she built on her already impressive record as a foreign correspondent.  Prior to joining The Times, Tina spent eight years at Newsday, serving as South Africa correspondent from 1998-2001 and as a national and international correspondent based in New York after that.  She was AP’s West Africa correspondent from 1994-98 and South Africa correspondent and news editor from 1990-94.  During that stint she was kidnapped while on assignment in Mogadishu by Somali gunmen and held captive for 20 days until being freed unharmed.  She has covered the war in Iraq, as well as conflicts throughout Africa, and the end of apartheid in South Africa. 

Tina was born in Orange and raised in Oakland, where she was co-editor of her high school paper with Mark Barabak. She is a graduate of San Diego State University. 

Tina is ideally suited to take on all the great stories that originate in New York and the Northeast. She goes places others prefer to avoid, finds tales that would otherwise not be told, and tells them with a
verve that others can only envy.

Roger Smith
National editor

"Mexico Under Siege" wins Overseas Press Club honors

Here's the announcement to staff from Editor Russ Stanton:

Colleagues:
 
“Mexico Under Siege,” our innovative and deeply reported chronicle of the narco-violence afflicting our southern neighbor and our own border region, has collected a fresh batch of honors.
 
The Overseas Press Club of America last night bestowed its prestigious Hal Boyle Award for newspaper reporting to “Mexico Under Siege,” along with a special citation for exceptional online coverage of international affairs.
 
“Mexico” has also snared a Sigma Delta Chi Award for online reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists.
 
This remarkable multimedia project, which features video, interactive graphics and a Q&A blog on which staffers have answered readers’ questions in English and Spanish, previously won the web reporting prize in the Scripps Howard National Journalism competition.
 
It’s rare to see a piece of journalism lauded for both print and online excellence, and it’s a testament to the strides we’ve made toward becoming a multi-platform newsroom. It's also  time to salute those responsible for this terrific project.
 
--Editing. Asst. California Editor Geoff Mohan has directed the series from the outset, with daily editing help from the Foreign and Metro desks.
--Reporting. Tracy Wilkinson and Ken Ellingwood in our Mexico City bureau, Rich Marosi in San Diego and Sam Quinones in Los Angeles have been the primary writers of the series; at least 10 other staffers have contributed stories to the effort.
--latimes.com/Database team. Sean Connelley, Stephanie Ferrell, Michael McGehee, Katy Newton and Ben Welsh developed the outstanding interactive package.
--Photo/video. Don Bartletti has been the primary photographer on the project and Deborah Bonello handled video, with editing assistance from Alan Hagman (online) , Mary Cooney (print) and Scott Anger (video).
--Graphics. Tom Reinken, Lorena Iniguez, Raul Ranoa and Thomas Lauder produced the informational graphics for both print and online.
--Design.  Derek Simmons and Kelli Sullivan have overseen the design efforts.
--Copy desk. Our crack troops have gang-tackled this one, with Arnold Paradise leading the charge.
You can find this wonderful piece of journalism at www.latimes.com/siege.

In addition, the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Big Burn” series on wildfires won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for informational graphics. The award recognizes the hand-drawn illustrations, maps and other graphics that gave the series such a distinctive look and helped makes its wealth of detail about firefighting tactics and costs accessible to readers.
 
Congratulations to everyone.
 
Russ Stanton
Editor

Steve Padilla joins National desk as assistant editor

Here's the memo to the staff from Deputy National Editor Ashley Dunn:

Steve Padilla has joined the National desk as an assistant National editor.

Steve joined the paper 22 years ago as the night cop reporter in the Valley Edition. In three years he was named an assistant city editor and has been editing ever since. Steve is known for his skill at editing narratives, and reporters throughout the building ask him to offer guidance on their stories.

Steve was the managing editor of the Valley Edition when it spearheaded the paper’s Pulitzer-winning coverage of the botched North Hollywood bank robbery in 1997. He was part of the editing team that handled the 2000 presidential election and, as a member of the Metro desk for the past eight years, edited a variety of subjects, including higher education and religion. For nearly two years he has overseen the paper’s military obituaries and was part of the team that created the California War Dead Database. This winter he helped plan web and broadsheet coverage of Barack Obama’s inauguration and edited a special section on presidential inaugurations.

Although he admits to being a bit of a technophobe, Steve has embraced the web. He helped launch the L.A. Now and L.A. Unleashed blogs and works with Andrew Malcolm on Top of The Ticket. He even live-blogged a recent presidential press conference.

Steve is a local product, originally from Alhambra and a graduate of USC, where he was editor of the Daily Trojan. Before joining The Times, he was a reporter with the San Diego Union and an editor with Hispanic Link Weekly Report, a newsletter on Latino affairs. On the non-journalistic front, he’s a musician -- a trained tenor -- and sometimes available for weddings.

Technical difficulties and alternate ways to contact us [Updated]

Update: As of Wednesday morning, April 22, the readers' representative office has been able to receive e-mails. The address: readers.rep@latimes.com.]

 

The Readers' Rep mailbox is experiencing technical difficulties. If you send us an e-mail it may bounce back. We hope to resolve the situation soon.

In the meantime, please contact us by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail to 202 W. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Thank you!