James Rainey shifts to media reporting

A memo to the newsroom from Assistant Managing Editor Sallie Hofmeister and Arts & Entertainment Editor Craig Turner:

Jim Rainey is taking on a new assignment, applying his formidable reporting, analytical and writing skills to the beat that he has skillfully covered as a columnist for more than three years. Starting next week, Jim will be doing longer investigations, profiles and analyses of the media world that we expect will land him regularly on A1, in Column One, and on the Sunday and daily Calendar covers.

As our On the Media columnist, Jim has chronicled the shifting landscape of journalism as the Internet and social media transformed the culture and business of news. His columns have explored politics, public television, local news, new economic models for journalism and the blurring of the line between advertising and editorial. A series of columns that he wrote about the deteriorating quality of local TV news won him the 2010 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Pennsylvania State University.  A dogged reporter, Jim broke the news as a columnist of KCET’s withdrawal from PBS, NPR’s ouster of Vivian Schiller and a management shuffle at KNBC -- prompted in part by one of his columns.

By freeing Jim from the constraints of a twice-weekly column, we believe that he will have an even bigger impact and broaden the mix of stories on the front page and in Calendar. He still will tweet on media topics and will post to Show Tracker, Company Town and the politics blogs. Jim will continue to report to Bret Israel, editor of the Sunday Calendar and Arts & Books sections.  

Jim joined The Times as a staff writer in 1987, shortly after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley. Since then, he has covered child welfare, the environment, the mayoral administrations of Tom Bradley and Richard Riordan, the 1992 riots, the 1994 earthquake, several wildfires and the 2004 and 2008 presidential races. A Los Angeles native who attended Santa Monica High, Jim spent a month in Iraq for The Times in 2006.

 

Patrick Day returning as writer/senior producer

A memo to the newsroom from Assistant Managing Editor Sallie Hofmeister and Arts & Entertainment Editor Craig Turner:

After a brief stint at The Hollywood Reporter, Patrick Day is returning to the Los Angeles Times and rejoining the web entertainment team in a new role as a writer/senior producer.

In addition to his production duties, Patrick will contribute news and features to all of the Arts and Entertainment blogs, compile the popular Fast Track entertainment news roundup and create multimedia and web-only content. He will report to Lisa Fung, online Arts & Entertainment editor.

Patrick started working at The Times while he was still in college. Over his 11 years at The Times, he worked his way up from data entry to associate online editor for entertainment. He helped launch TheEnvelope.com, The Times’ awards-centric website, and was the first producer to work on the online Entertainment News section, which moved The Times into breaking entertainment news on the Web. He has covered everything from the Oscar awards race to the Sundance Film Festival.

In his spare time, Patrick writes screenplays and fiction. He and his writing partner recently won the 2011 award for best TV Pilot for a One Hour Drama at the Austin Film Festival.

We are thrilled to welcome back Patrick.

Randall Roberts named pop music critic

Staff announcement from Sallie Hofmeister, assistant managing editor, arts and entertainment; and Craig Turner, arts and entertainment editor:

We’re pleased to announce that Randall Roberts will succeed Ann Powers as pop music critic. Since joining the newsroom early last year as pop music editor, Randall has reinvigorated our coverage, refocused the daily music blog and launched the new Pop & Hiss page in the Tuesday Calendar section. He has been a regular contributor to the Pop & Hiss blog and has written dozens of pieces for the paper. As we searched for someone with the knowledge, writing flair and digital sensibilities to take the critic’s spot, it became clear that Randall was the best choice.

His recent review of Paul Simon’s concert shows his insight and encyclopedic knowledge of music, his piece on the Belle Brigade demonstrates his ability to identify sparkling new acts, and his review of Lady Gaga’s new CD proves that he’s not afraid of offending even the biggest names in the business. Randall’s understanding of the local nightlife and music scene and the changing nature of the music industry will add dimension to his criticism.

As pop music critic, Randall will review live concerts and CDs, and he will write blog posts, notebooks, essays and profiles that include a critical perspective. Given the huge volume of pop music, we will augment Randall’s reviews with others by selected freelancers and staffers.

Until his replacement as editor can be found, Randall will do double duty as critic and pop music editor. After that, he will focus largely on his critic responsibilities, although he will continue to have a hand in shaping coverage.

Randall joined The Times from LA Weekly, where, as music editor for three years, he established the paper as a rollicking authority on local music both online and in print through a freelance network as well as with his own blog posts, stories and columns. Randall moved to Los Angeles from St. Louis, where he spent nine years as music editor, then as staff writer and beat reporter at the city’s alternative weekly.

A graduate of the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and creative writing, Randall is a 2009 USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism fellow. His articles on music, history, food and cocktails have been honored by the Assn. of Food Journalists, the James Beard Foundation, the National Assn. of Black Journalists and the L.A. Press Club.

Photo: Randall Roberts. Credit: Los Angeles Times

 

 

Ashley Dunn named Times California editor

Times Editor Russ Stanton made the following staff announcement today:

After a 17-year journey through Business, Science and National, Deputy National Editor Ashley Dunn is returning to Metro this week – as California editor.

Ashley is succeeding David Lauter in this position, which is accompanied by the masthead-level title of assistant managing editor, and will now supervise our newsroom’s largest group of reporters and editors.

In his distinguished career as a reporter and editor, Ashley has helped oversee our coverage of the dot-com boom and bust, the space shuttle Columbia explosion, the election of Barack Obama and, more recently, the gulf oil spill.

David Lauter to lead Tribune Washington bureau

Times Editor Russ Stanton made the following staff announcement today:

Assistant Managing Editor David Lauter, who has headed up The Times’ California report for the last 3½ years, will become chief of Tribune’s Washington, D.C., bureau, effective today.

David is well suited for the post, in part because his 24-year career at The Times began in the Washington bureau, where he spent eight years covering national politics and the White House under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1995, David has become one of our most seasoned editors, having extensive experience in three key arenas that regularly intersect in Washington: foreign, national and metro news.

As bureau chief, David will oversee a staff of 19 reporters and four editors who serve Tribune’s eight newspapers, its websites, its mobile offerings and the Media on Demand operation in Chicago. He will play a key role in our coverage of the 2012 presidential campaign, for which he is especially well qualified, having run The Times’ coverage of the 1996 campaign. Among David’s responsibilities will be to establish a sharp upward trajectory for our new political blog, Politics Now, helmed by Jim Oliphant and Mike Memoli.

Jimmy Orr named managing editor, online

As Tiffany Hsu reported in Tuesday's Business section, Jimmy Orr has been named managing editor, online, to oversee its Web news operations and its expanding portfolio of digital and mobile news properties.

Orr, 45, who is currently deputy editor, online, will assume his new duties Feb. 28. He will replace Sean Gallagher, who is leaving The Times and relocating to London.

Editor Russ Stanton's memo with the announcement follows:

Cathleen Decker named 2012 campaign editor

Times Editor Russ Stanton sent the following announcement to the newsroom:

Cathleen Decker, who co-directed our outstanding coverage of last year’s California gubernatorial and Senate campaigns, has taken on a new assignment: editor of our 2012 national campaign coverage.

As you know, Cathy is one of the nation’s most knowledgeable editors when it comes to politics (more on that in a minute). In this job, she will oversee all aspects of our coverage, including the race for president, the battles for control of the House and Senate, and key gubernatorial races in pivotal states that could affect who winds up in the White House. She will ensure that we provide our readers with up-top-the-minute breaking news online, thorough analysis in print, and supplemental coverage over the airwaves and through social media.

Cathy will report to National Editor Roger Smith and will help coordinate our company’s efforts by working closely with Chicago Tribune Deputy Managing Editor Peter Kendall, who is overseeing coverage of President Obama’s Chicago-based campaign headquarters, and Washington Bureau Chief Kerry Luft, who heads up our  coverage of the White House, Congress and the Washington political scene.

When Cathy began covering presidential politics, Barack Obama was a newly minted community organizer, Mitt Romney hadn’t yet made his first million and Sarah Palin was still a college student in Idaho. Cathy covered the 1984 national political conventions that set up Ronald Reagan’s rout of Walter Mondale. Four years later, she became an honorary citizen of New Hampshire, where she took up residence and chronicled the often amusing and always revealing events in that state’s traditional first-in-the-nation primary. (Candidate Al Haig to an overweight woman in a donut shop: “Come here  often?”)

Cathy has tackled every major national or state political story since then -- Reagan, both Bushes, both Clintons and Obama, with a fair amount of Feinstein, Boxer, Schwarzenegger and Brown thrown into the mix. Along the way, she became a master at interpreting public opinion surveys and at teaching a generation of reporters the ins and outs of providing precise, careful and fast-moving campaign coverage for our readers.

Two years ago, Cathy began writing The Week, a column that expertly reviews major stories of the preceding seven days, subjecting them to the careful scrutiny and analysis for which she has become so well known. The Week is a central feature of our Sunday California report, in print and online. As she did quite capably last year, Cathy will continue to write as the campaign season unfolds.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be tapping staff members from various sections to join in the campaign coverage, particularly on the Republican side, as it shifts into higher gear.

 

Managing Editor Sean Gallagher is leaving

Times Editor Russ Stanton sent the following note to the newsroom, announcing the departure of Managing Editor/Online Sean Gallagher:

Colleagues:

If you’ve chatted at all with Sean Gallagher over the last couple of years, you may know that he has nurtured a strong desire to work someday in Britain to broaden his horizons. Excitingly for him and sadly for us, he has decided to act on that calling and will be leaving at the end of this month and moving to London, where he plans to expand his already formidable digital skills.

Since joining The Times in 2006 as an associate editor, Sean has made significant and too-numerous-to-count contributions to the growth and ongoing improvement of latimes.com. Among his many lasting achievements are overseeing the 2009 redesign of the site, helping integrate the print and Web staffs, launching our iPhone applications and expanding the Health and Business sections online.

At one time or another, and particularly in his role as managing editor, online, Sean has helped virtually everyone in the newsroom better understand the workings of the Web. He is a tireless trainer and educator, and he has excelled at finding solutions to tricky technological challenges. It is in no small part because of his efforts that the traffic and the number of visitors to latimes.com have more than doubled since he joined our newsroom.

 

Times health editor Tami Dennis to oversee health content for Tribune Co.

A memo from Times Editor Russ Stanton, Chicago Tribune Editor Gerry Kern and Geoff Melick, Tribune Co. senior vice president/health:

Last year, we identified the topic of health as a prime opportunity for Tribune Co. to expand its reach as both a provider of news and information and as a host for advertisers in this burgeoning field to reach large and attractive audiences. This month, our newsrooms are accelerating those efforts by better coordinating our formidable resources to reach consumers however they choose to get their information: print, broadcast, online, mobile, social networking and events.

Leading the charge will be Tami Dennis, health and science editor of the Los Angeles Times, who is being promoted to vice president of health content for Tribune Co. She will oversee this multichannel strategy with the goal of making Tribune a leading provider of health news and information both nationally and in each of the markets it serves.

In addition to coordinating the health coverage of our newspapers, television stations and their respective websites, Tami will be responsible for the HealthKey.com site we launched last year, streaming our health coverage to the Media on Demand team in Chicago and producing a new national health blog. She also will supervise the HealthKey content team in Chicago, which is led by Nicole Voges.

Paul Thornton, editor of Letters to the Editor

Editorial Pages Editor Nicholas Goldberg announced the appointment of a new editor for Letters to the Editor:

Paul Thornton, the longtime Web producer for the editorial pages, will become our new letters editor.

In this position, Paul will be responsible for culling through the hundreds of letters we get from readers each week, selecting the ones we want to publish and editing them into clear, coherent arguments.

Paul began at The Times as an intern in 2004 and became a staffer in 2005. Since then he’s worked as a researcher, been a blogger, written editorials and served as head of our opinion web operations. He’s done a great job keeping our OpinionLA blog in line, editing submissions for the feature known as “Blowback”, and generally keeping our Internet presence up to snuff.

Raised in Southern California, Paul is a graduate of UC Berkeley.

Sports designer, movie editor, science writer named

The following staff changes have been announced in the last week:

Josh Penrod has joined the design staff as senior designer, sports. Josh will serve as lead designer on a talented staff of designers in one of the greatest sports cities in the world. Josh most recently worked as the lead news designer for sports at the New York Times, working through three Olympics, a Giants' Super Bowl win and a Yankees' World Series title. He previously worked as a designer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, the State (Columbia, S.C.); the Herald-Journal in Spartanburg, S.C.; and the Aiken Standard in Aiken, S.C.

Julie Makinen will rejoin The Times staff, succeeding Tim Swanson as movie editor for the Entertainment Department. Julie has spent the last year and half in Hong Kong as deputy business editor of the Asian edition of the International Herald Tribune, fulfilling a longtime desire to live and work in Asia. Prior to that, she held a variety of editing and reporting jobs at The Times and at the Washington Post. As movie editor, Julie will supervise a talented team of reporters, bloggers, columnists and critics covering Southern California’s signature industry, mainly for Calendar and latimes.com. Over the course of her career, she has captained investigative projects, overseen front-page breaking news stories ranging from the Wall Street meltdown to Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game, and edited columns, blogs and Column One stories. In 2003, after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, she spent several weeks in Baghdad helping to edit and coordinate coverage. An early advocate of the Web, Julie is equally at home online and in print. At the Herald Tribune, Julie coordinates reporters and editors on three continents, assigning and editing business and technology stories for print and for nytimes.com.

Eryn Brown will be joining the Health/Science team as a general assignment science reporter. She’ll be reporting both on large scientific discoveries and on the practical science behind current events. As The Times’ Letters editor, a position she’s held since 2008, Eryn has been distilling the often passionate and personal views of L.A. Times readers. In her new job, she’ll be distilling the often passionate but scientific work of researchers and scientists. Her beat will be a broad one, covering science as it touches an array of disciplines and departments. Eryn previously worked at Fortune magazine in New York, writing features about technology, dot-com culture and heavy industry. She moved to Los Angeles in 2002, where she freelanced for The Times (including the Los Angeles Times Magazine), the New York Times, Wired and other publications. She joined The Times’ editorial board in January 2006, where she wrote about the economy, water policy and healthcare.

Jimmy Orr, deputy editor, online

Jimmy Orr, online editor of the Christian Science Monitor, will be joining The Times in mid-August as deputy editor, online. In this new position, Orr will coordinate online news and features efforts.

While at the Monitor, Orr helped convert that newsroom into a 24/7 operation and then focused on growing traffic through the creation of blogs, search engine optimization and social networking, developing relationships with partner content providers, vastly increasing the frequency of publishing and acting as the principal liaison with leading aggregators.

In 2009, the Monitor became the first major U.S. newspaper to stop printing on parchment in a favor of an Internet-only distribution model. Orr was key to the successful transformation.

Before joining the Monitor in 2007 as the online editor, Orr served as the chief Internet strategist for both President George W. Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. His groundbreaking online chats "Ask the White House" and "Ask Governor Schwarzenegger" were lauded by the media and leading government watchdog groups as examples of good government. His entertaining "Barney Cam" videos (Christmas through the eyes of the first dog) became a holiday tradition in the Bush White House and the most-watched videos on the White House website. While at the White House, Orr was named one of the most influential people in the world of politics and the Internet by PoliticsOnline.

He has been a contributor to The Times' Top of The Ticket blog since March.