Times to Resume Publishing Its Eastern Edition

The Los Angeles Times plans to resume publication of its East Coast edition, which was eliminated earlier this year as part of the company’s cost-cutting efforts, Times Publisher Richard T. Schlosberg III announced.

Although the Eastern Edition, which was distributed in the Washington, D.C., and New York City areas, had a circulation of about 3,000, its audience of key decision-makers on the East Coast--including the President and members of the Cabinet and Congress--made it an important outlet for the paper.

Schlosberg announced the decision to restart the edition at a meeting with reporters and editors in The Times’ Washington Bureau attended by Times Editor Shelby Coffey III and Mark H. Willes, chief executive of Times Mirror Co. At the meeting, Schlosberg said executives had underestimated the impact of eliminating the edition. Since the decision to close the edition was made, Times executives have received numerous requests to restart it from senior government officials and others who said they had depended on the edition to keep them abreast of developments in California as well as The Times’ reports on national and foreign news.

“The most remarkable thing about this experience has been the enormous outpouring of demand for the Eastern Edition,” said Doyle McManus, who was recently named to succeed Jack Nelson next year as The Times’ Washington Bureau chief. “It really demonstrated to us that there is a larger and more fiercely devoted readership for this edition of The Times than we had known.”

A precise date has not yet been set, but Coffey said he expects publication to start before Jan. 1.

He added, “It was made clear by members of the California delegation as well as a number of key government and Washington officials that a range of California viewpoints were sorely missed in the capital. They felt the Washington edition added greatly to getting voices from the West Coast into the national dialogue there. We think that’s important too, and wanted to respond.”