Los Angeles Times Names 2 Senior Vice Presidents

Lawrence M. Higby, president of the Los Angeles Times Orange County edition and a vice president of The Times, and William A. Niese, vice president and general counsel, have been promoted to newly created positions of senior vice presidents.

Higby, as senior vice president of consumer marketing, will oversee circulation, promotion and cable marketing programs at The Times, including marketing of the paper’s Orange County, San Fernando Valley, Ventura and San Diego editions. He also remains president of the Orange County edition.

Higby will report to Steven L. Isenberg, who earlier this week was named executive vice president of marketing.

Niese, as senior vice president for law and human resources, will be responsible for the employee relations and legal departments at the newspaper, reporting to David Laventhol, publisher and chief executive of The Times.

“These changes are part of our ongoing strengthening of Times management’s organizational structure,” Laventhol said.

Higby, 45, joined The Times in 1989 from Times Mirror Cable Television, where he was senior vice president of marketing, programming and sales. A former aide to President Richard M. Nixon, Higby has held senior marketing posts at America’s Pharmacy, Taco Bell and Pepsi-Cola U.S.A.

Niese, 54, has held his current position since 1985. He joined Times Mirror Co., parent company of The Times, as an attorney in 1966 and subsequently served as assistant secretary for the company and assistant general counsel before being named associate general counsel in 1982. Before joining Times Mirror, he practiced law in Phoenix.