Associate Editor Leo Wolinsky to depart The Times

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Currently overseeing the Features department, Leo Wolinsky will leave The Times after more than 30 years with the company. Editor Russ Stanton’s announcement follows.
Colleagues:

For 31 years, Leo Wolinsky has served the Los Angeles Times and its readers with integrity, pride and a deep devotion to this community and to the craft of journalism. At one point or another, he has worn seemingly half the titles in the newsroom: reporter, assistant bureau chief in Sacramento, city editor, Metro editor, managing editor, executive editor, associate editor. And for the better part of a decade, Leo shaped Page One, bringing his steady news judgment and knowledge of California to bear on thousands of stories.

This spring, I asked Leo to move to the Features department to bring some much-needed stability to a crucial part of our newsroom. He accepted the assignment with his characteristic dedication, made a number of immediate improvements, and won over colleagues who were skeptical that a career hard-news guy would care about Features.

In the months since, I became convinced that the organizational structure which has prevailed in Features for several decades needed to change, so that our coverage in this multimedia world could improve and evolve. It is fair to say that Leo and I did not agree on the best way to accomplish this, leading to the difficult decision that he will be leaving The Times.

Over the years, Leo has made contributions to our readers, to this newsroom and to his colleagues that are too numerous to count. He has served ably, conscientiously and indefatigably, and for that work The Times and our readers owe Leo tremendous gratitude.