The Los Angeles Times has lost another editor. The resignation of Russ Stanton after four years was announced yesterday. He will leave on 23 December.
He is the fourth editor in a row – after John Carroll, Dean Baquet and James O'Shea – to leave amid demands for job cuts.
"It's kind of a tradition - a sad tradition," said one unidentified staffer quoted by Reuters.
During his tenure as editor, Stanton's staff shrank from 900 to about 550. New cuts are on the horizon, with between 12 and 20 staff due to be laid off early in the new year.
Davan Maharaj, managing editor for news since May 2008, will replace Stanton.
The LA Times's print circulation stood at 572,998 in September, a 21% drop from March 2009. It is the fifth-largest circulation in the US.
The paper is planning to charge for access to its website in the first quarter of 2012. It is also said to be launching its own tablet (not an app or tablet edition) but the physical object itself.
All the disruptions at the LA Times have to be seen in the context of its parent company, Tribune, being in bankruptcy.
Sources: Reuters/New York Times
