Steven Zeitchik: reporter -- Entertainment

Here's the announcement to the staff from Sallie Hofmeister, assistant managing editor; and Craig Turner, arts and entertainment editor:

We are pleased to announce that Steven Zeitchik is joining The Times’ entertainment team as a reporter and blogger assigned to cover the movie industry.

Steven, a resourceful, creative and collaborative journalist, comes to The Times from the Hollywood Reporter, where he was a regular front-page presence, writing about studio business and the independent film scene with expertise and aplomb. In addition to his work on breaking news and feature articles, Steven also anchored the Reporter’s popular Risky Business movie blog, revealing himself to be a film omnivore with an inexhaustible work ethic, writing knowledgeably about such divergent topics as the talents of Sidney Lumet, the cult of Megan Fox and the latest cliffhanger in the Weinstein Co. saga.
 
Previous to his tenure at the Reporter, Steven worked for more than two years as a staff writer at Daily Variety. And before his tour of duty in Hollywood, he worked for Publishers Weekly in New York and as an Associated Press correspondent reporting on conflict and politics in the Middle East from Jerusalem and the West Bank.  He also lived and worked in Berlin while on a journalism fellowship in 2003.

His work covering media, business, travel and culture also has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times.
 
Steven received a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and graduated cum laude from New York’s Yeshiva University.  He has enjoyed a bi-coastal existence up until this point, splitting time between New York and Los Angeles, but he will move to Southern California full time for his new position (which, he is convinced, will only help his tennis game).
 
Steven will be seated next to Chris Lee and report to movie editor Tim Swanson when he arrives in November. Please help us welcome him.

Sean Gallagher appointed Los Angeles Times' managing editor/online

Here's the note from Editor Russ Stanton:

Colleagues:

I’m pleased to announce that Sean Gallagher, managing editor of latimes.com, will fill the masthead-level position of managing editor/online, effective immediately.
 
Sean has played a key role in the growth and continued improvement of our website, including overseeing the recent redesign that has won much acclaim from our readers and industry colleagues. In his new position, Sean will be responsible for the overall reader experience on latimes.com and the rest of our nearly dozen other digital efforts, which we will continue to expand.

He will work closely with section editors and his colleagues on the masthead, particularly Jon Thurber, managing editor/print, to ensure that the needs of the paper and the site are being met and that our coverage on these platforms is complementary. This includes coordinating and implementing the daily news and features report for our online readers, supervising the large and talented team of your colleagues who produce latimes.com, and helping with the continued integration of our print and Web efforts.

Over his 16-year career, Sean has mastered virtually every facet of online publishing, whether running a news report, producing home pages and building new sections, or working with sales, marketing and IT to develop new products. He joined latimes.com in 2006 as an associate editor; in that job, he helped coordinate the news report and then oversaw the expansion of the Health and Business sections online.

In the three years since, Sean has worked with almost everyone in the newsroom, educating and training staffers about the workings and wonders of the Web, helping with the integration of the print and Web staffs, and finding solutions to vexing technological problems. He also was a member of the Reinvent Committee, formed in 2007 to recommend improvements to the paper during this period of rapid change.

Before joining The Times, Sean was Web director of sddt.com, the website of the San Diego Daily Transcript, where he ran the daily news report. He previously spent more than five years at nytimes.com, where, among other things, he rebuilt and then ran the Science and Health sections and was a producer on the home page. He also worked at the Village Voice as a researcher and at Scholastic Books as a production editor.

Sean is a 1993 graduate of Fordham University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in media studies with a focus on print journalism.

Russ Stanton
Editor

 

(Even) more Qs & A's on the revamped latimes.com

Between comments published on the initial and follow-up posts on this journal about the redesign, and e-mails sent to the readers’ representative office, almost 900 notes have come to praise or heckle the revamped latimes.com, some three-quarters of those responding saying they like the changes.

Meredith Artley, Managing Editor, Online, addressed several often-asked questions last Thursday. Two of those questions have persisted: Why did the “print edition” option disappear, and “where is California news?” More information on those and other questions readers have asked over the last few days is below.

• Where is California news?
That question comes in still, even after Artley answered Thursday to say that “by clicking ‘Local’ in the navigation bar ... you will find continuous coverage there, including our breaking news blog, LA Now, other daily coverage and recent special projects.”

Reader Wayne Dernetz is one who probed more: “But that says nothing about coverage of state political news. Is the L.A. Times cutting back on its Sacramento Bureau?  Egads, I hope not.”  The response from Assistant Managing Editor, California, David Lauter: “You can reassure readers on the state news issue, and particularly the reader who asked about Sacramento: The Times recently added another reporter to our Sacramento bureau, and we have plans to expand the bureau further in the fall as we continue to ensure that we provide our readers -- in print and online -- with the best, timeliest and most authoritative coverage of California government and politics. We've grouped all that coverage as part of "local" because California's local and state institutions are so intertwined.”

• Add more space to the left margin!
Editors say they’ll be adding more space to the left margin.

• Bring back the single-page button.
Readers have asked, editors have answered: The option to read a story on one page is coming back as soon as possible.

Changes in Sports: John Cherwa, deputy editor; Houston Mitchell, assistant editor

Here's the memo from Sports Editors Mike James to the staff:

I’m happy to announce two additions to the Sports staff.

John Cherwa, who was deputy sports editor to Bill Dwyre from 1990 to 1995 before leaving to become sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, is returning to The Times as deputy sports editor. John will have a variety of duties that will include developing multimedia strategies, working on investigations and projects, helping to run the daily operation of the section and directing the department in my absence.

Many of you will remember John from his days in Southern California; he began at The Times in 1980 in the Orange County Edition, becoming sports editor there before moving downtown. He worked tirelessly through the 1984 Olympics in L.A. and was the architect of our expansive and award-winning coverage of the soccer World Cup in 1994. John is a past president of the Associated Press Sports Editors, has won several APSE awards for sections, news reporting and investigative reporting and was editor of the year at the paper in 1995. He left Chicago for the Orlando Sentinel in 2002 and, among other duties, has been the sports coordinator for Tribune papers and in charge of special projects in Orlando since then. His role as Tribune coordinator will continue to be an important one for him in L.A. We’re fortunate to get him back. And by the way, for those of you who don’t know John, the ‘w’ in his last name is pronounced as a ‘v.’
 
Also, Houston Mitchell, an outstanding member of the Sports copy desk since 1998, will be moving to the Sports staff as an assistant sports editor. Houston will help with web production and the creation of interactive features for the website, take over responsibility of the Fabulous Forum sports blog and assume line-editing duties as well.
  
Houston has worked his way up since starting at The Times in 1991 as a desk assistant and has become a reliable sounding board for reporters during his time on the copy desk. He is a creative and thoughtful editor who has been responsible for creating many of the charts that provide important added value to our stories.

John and Houston will begin their new positions the week of Aug. 30.

Measuring the relaunch of latimes.com

Online editor Meredith Artley files this update after hearing from several hundred readers:

Less than 24 hours ago we launched a new latimes.com. We’ve been reading the feedback very closely, including comments on this journal, on Twitter and via regular old e-mail.

The majority of the feedback is positive, which is music to our ears. There are also some vocal voices who prefer the old site. We appreciate hearing from so many savvy readers who care about news presentation, design and navigation. Here are the most common complaints and what we are doing about them:

I can’t find the crossword puzzle/Sudoku…
You can find both in the black navigation bar at the top of every page in the “Games” section, which is available under the “More” tab. We also added it as the last item under “Living” in the text navigation at the bottom of every page.

Where are the obits?
A link to the obituaries section can be found in both the local and national sections. And we added it to the text navigation at the very bottom of every page, under “News.”

Where is the print edition?
Virtually all stories that appear in the printed version of The Times continue to be found on the site. An image of page one of the newspaper is updated daily at latimes.com/print. At that link, you can also find home delivery information and links to the e-edition, Kindle services and archive search services.

Where is California and local news?
You can find our outstanding local coverage by clicking “Local” in the navigation bar. You will find continuous coverage there, including our breaking news blog, LA Now, other daily coverage and recent special projects.

Meredith Artley
Managing Editor, Online
Los Angeles Times

Times unveils 'cleaner, crisper, more innovative site'

Here's a note of introduction to readers from Meredith Artley, managing editor, online, and Russ Stanton, editor, about changes at latimes.com:

 

Welcome to the new latimes.com.
 
We’re bringing you a site that’s easier to read and use and that better showcases the world-class journalism our newsroom produces around the clock. 

Thanks to your frequent visits, latimes.com has seen unparalleled growth among top newspaper sites over the last year. We’re breaking more news than ever on latimes.com; we’ve expanded our blog network; we’re publishing more stunning visual, interactive journalism; and we have savvy readers like you contributing to conversations.

And now you can find all that and more in a cleaner, crisper, more innovative site. 

Key changes include:

- Streamlined navigation at the top of every page, highlighting our main coverage areas such as local news, sports and entertainment. The idea is to make it easier to get around the site from wherever you are.

- Right below the black navigation bar, you’ll see topics “In the News.” Here, you’ll find quick access to big stories we are following, whether it’s the state budget or the Emmys or coverage of unrest in Iran.

- Our new modular approach to the homepage means you can quickly find and access multimedia packages of the news of most interest to you. Scroll down the page, and you’ll see features including the award-winning investigative coverage of “Mexico Under Siege,” excerpts from popular blog posts and columns, top headlines from well-read sections and interactive databases such as Mapping L.A.

- Our video player has improved, with faster-loading video and more sharing features.

- We’ve simplified our articles, making them easier to scroll without interruption from related content or advertising. We’ve enhanced our article-sharing features as well to include more seamless interaction with social-networking sites and the ability to send articles to instant-messaging services and mobile devices.

- Design aficionados will note that we have gone from a sans-serif font (Arial) to a serif font (Georgia). Not only did we find that this was a more readable font, but we also felt it connected to our overall brand much better. 

For more details on what’s new, check out our site tour.
 
Our work is not done. We approached this redesign as another step in the evolution of the Los Angeles Times, as a building block for more things to come. 
 
Thanks for supporting the work we do by visiting us and engaging and interacting with the site. As always, your feedback is welcome in the comments below or by e-mailing readers.rep@latimes.com.

-- Meredith Artley, managing editor, online,
Russ Stanton, editor

[Updated: Artley answered some reader questions in a follow-up post Thursday.]

July numbers for latimes.com: 'Strong month for breaking news of all stripes'

Meredith Artley, Managing Editor, Online, gives the latest figures in this memo to staff:

Colleagues: Latimes.com drew 142 million page views in July – up 10% over this time last year. And we had more than 23 million unique users, an increase of 27% from last year. Visits from local readers continue to grow at a solid pace of 30% year over year.
 
Some incredible work this month, including the launch of an ongoing video Q&A with Harriet Ryan and Andrew Blankstein on the evolving story of Michael Jackson’s death. Also, look at this slick, in-depth, interactive timeline on Jackson’s life.
 
In addition to the Metro team’s insightful coverage of the tragic and untimely death of young Lily Burk, there is this timeline tracing the criminal history of Charles Samuel through court and prison documents.   
 

Scott Sandell appointed morning entertainment editor, Calendar

Here's the memo to the staff from Sallie Hofmeister, Assistant Managing Editor, and Craig Turner, Arts and Entertainment Editor:

We are pleased to name Scott Sandell as the morning entertainment editor for the Calendar and Company Town operations. In this newly created position, Scott will give us an earlier jump on the news each day and improve coordination among Calendar, Company Town, the Web, the photo and graphics departments and the rest of the paper. Working a 7 a.m.-to-3:30 p.m. shift, Scott will scour the wires, papers and the blogosphere to put together our early morning coverage. He will be responsible for an internal memo that will be distributed to senior editors at 7:30 a.m. that gives a heads-up on stories moving to the Web and enterprise on deck for the day.

Richard Rushfield to leave latimes.com

Here's the memo from Meredith Artley, managing editor, online:

 

I come bearing sad news. Richard Rushfield, entertainment editor for latimes.com, has been wooed away by Gawker.

 

Richard is perhaps best known for covering a little TV show called "American Idol" like no one else, bringing unique coverage and discussion of a popular culture juggernaut to latimes.com. But that’s just one part of his legacy – his leadership and contributions to our online entertainment effort are countless and something that our talented team of producers and editors will continue to build upon.

 

Richard’s last day is Aug. 4. Please join me in thanking/kicking him in the meantime. We will miss him, and even though we thought we’d never say it, we’ll miss that green plaid jacket.

 

Meredith Artley

Managing Editor, Online

 

Mike James named sports editor [Updated]

Here's the memo from Editor Russ Stanton:

Mike James, deputy sports editor for the past three years, is our news sports editor, effective today.

Mike has been instrumental in maintaining our award-winning Sports section in print while expanding its reach to the Web and beyond. He was an early convert to working in other media, having spent 2000 to 2002 as coordinating producer for Foxsports.com and then on the television side as executive editor of Fox Sports Net. Mike has drawn on those experiences in managing the ongoing transition of The Times’ Sports section to a multimedia operation.

He joined The Times in 1985, supervising daily sports coverage of the Orange County edition as an assistant sports editor. He moved downtown in 1989 as a news editor and later was promoted to assistant sports editor and then senior assistant sports editor. After leaving Fox, Mike returned to The Times as senior copy chief. He was named deputy sports editor in April 2006. He also has written extensively for The Times, primarily on golf.

Mike began his newspaper career as a sportswriter for the Burlington Free Press, where he worked from 1978 to 1981 before moving to the Hartford Courant, where he ran the sports desk. He has a BA in psychology, which has served him well in newspaper management.

Of course, no announcement involving Sports would be complete without a statistic, so here’s this: Mike is only the seventh editor of The Times’ Sports section since 1928.

Russ Stanton
Editor 

[Updated at 4:28 p.m.: Reader David asked what happened to the previous sports editor. A post earlier this month noted that former Sports Editor Randy Harvey had assumed new duties.]