Steven Isenberg Named L.A. Times Executive VP

Steven L. Isenberg, associate publisher of Newsday, will become executive vice president of marketing of the Los Angeles Times, the paper announced Wednesday. Isenberg, 49, will start in the new position on Jan. 1.

Isenberg will succeed Don Clark, 64, who will continue as an executive vice president during 1991 to ensure an orderly transition before retiring. The Times and Newsday are owned by Times Mirror Co.

“Steve Isenberg is one of Times Mirror’s most talented newspaper executives and brings a special dimension of skills to this challenging assignment,” Times Publisher and Chief Executive David Laventhol said.

Isenberg, who will report to Laventhol, will be responsible for advertising, circulation, promotion and marketing research. He also will oversee the marketing operations of The Times’ daily regional editions in Orange County, San Diego and the San Fernando Valley.

At a time when the newspaper industry has been hit by falling advertising revenues, the advertising slump at The Times has been cushioned in part by the relatively strong California economy. The Times is the nation’s largest metropolitan daily newspaper.

“I see the challenge ahead as helping to foster the Los Angeles Times’ preeminence and growth in the marketplace . . . to fulfill the great aspirations it has to serve readers and serve advertisers,” Isenberg said.

Isenberg grew up in Los Angeles and was a paperboy for the old Mirror newspaper, which was owned by the Los Angeles Times. He holds degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, Worcester College at Oxford University and Yale Law School. As associate publisher of Newsday since September, 1986, Isenberg has had special responsibility for New York Newsday.

Laventhol noted that The Times has had record-breaking years in circulation and revenue under Clark’s leadership. Clark, a 37-year veteran of The Times, joined the paper as an automotive division sales representative in classified advertising and later held a number of management positions in the department. He was named director of classified advertising in 1981 and assumed his current position in 1988.