Davan Maharaj named managing editor of The Times
The former Business editor will assume new duties overseeing the newsroom. Times Editor Russ Stanton also gives John Arthur the new title of executive editor.
Los Angeles Times Editor Russ Stanton reconfigured the newspaper's masthead positions today, elevating Business Editor Davan Maharaj to managing editor and naming Managing Editor John Arthur to the new title of executive editor.
Maharaj, Times business editor since February 2007, assumes oversight of the Foreign, National, Metro, Sports and Business departments. He will be responsible for shaping coverage, deploying people and overseeing personnel decisions with guidance from Stanton and Arthur.
The editors of those news sections will report to Maharaj.
Arthur became managing editor in July 2007. As executive editor, he will continue in his role determining which stories run on Page 1.
He also will be in charge of production functions, including the copy and design desks and the photography department, whose editors and department heads will report to him.
Stanton, 49, announced the changes in an internal memo to Times employees this morning. He said he would name a new business editor "in the next couple of weeks."
Maharaj, 45, has worked as a reporter for The Times in Orange County, Los Angeles and East Africa. His six-part series "Living on Pennies," in collaboration with Times photographer Francine Orr, won the 2005 Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Writing and inspired readers to send tens of thousands of dollars to aid people and agencies working in Africa.
Another Maharaj story, an investigative report about a Leisure World attorney who inherited millions of dollars in stock, land and other "gifts" from his clients, led to changes in California probate law.
Maharaj has been an assistant foreign editor and, in Business, served as a deputy editor before assuming leadership of the department last year.
Under Maharaj's tenure, Business revamped its coverage to give greater emphasis to consumer issues. It also redesigned its Sunday section, devoting it to stories that can help readers with their personal finances.
A native of Trinidad, Maharaj holds a political science degree from the University of Tennessee and a master's degree in law from Yale University.
"Anyone who has worked closely with Davan knows him as a passionate advocate for good stories, and for the people who work hard to produce them," Stanton said in his memo. "His energy and enthusiasm are infectious."
