Russ Stanton, a 10-year veteran of the Los Angeles Times who has been in charge of invigorating its website, on Thursday became the newspaper's 14th editor.
Stanton will lead a staff chafing from the recent exit of its third editor in less than three years and worried about job cuts. Former Editor James O'Shea and Publisher David D. Hiller parted ways Jan. 21 after a disagreement over whether the editorial budget should shrink.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, February 17, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 36 words Type of Material: Correction
Times executive appointments: In an article in Friday's Section A about Russ Stanton being named The Times' 14th editor, the last name of Los Angeles Times Media Group's marketing chief John O'Loughlin was misspelled as O'Laughlin.
The 49-year-old Stanton referred to "the high turnover rate in this job" in remarks he delivered in the paper's third-floor newsroom in downtown Los Angeles.
"Like most of you, I was attracted to this great journalistic institution because of its size, reach and reputation," he said. "I have grown tired and am now hopping mad over this seemingly endless 'Groundhog Day' nightmare. We in the newsroom need to figure out how to break this self-defeating cycle before it does indeed result in our defeat."
Hiller picked Stanton, a former Times business editor, over two other in-house candidates: Managing Editor John Arthur, 60, and Editorial Page Editor Jim Newton, 44. Hiller said the "decisive factor" in tapping Stanton was that he could "best lead change in the newsroom at a time of really amazing change and tumult" in the industry.
Hiller also shook up The Times' business side Thursday, with the departure of his most senior subordinate and the elevation of other executives.
The changes came two months after an $8.2-billion deal took Times parent Tribune Co. private in a partnership between Chicago billionaire Sam Zell and an employee stock ownership plan. Although Tribune is profitable, the deal left it laden with $13 billion of debt at a time when the economy is sagging and advertising revenue is steadily declining at the company's nine newspapers and 23 television stations, as it is throughout the media industry.
The 100 to 150 job cuts that will be made in coming weeks in the Los Angeles Times Media Group -- which includes Spanish-language Hoy, entertainment guide Metromix and community newspapers -- are part of a companywide cost-cutting process prompted by worse-than-expected revenue and cash flow.
Zell and Hiller have alluded to deteriorating results at Tribune and The Times, but the company has released no financial reports this year. It is expected to report its full-year 2007 results in late February or early March.
