Wada Named Times Deputy Managing Editor

Karen Wada, an assistant managing editor of The Times, has been named a deputy managing editor of the paper, Times Editor Shelby Coffey III announced Tuesday.

In her new position, Wada will supervise projects for the paper and help coordinate daily coverage. She will continue to oversee the Los Angeles Times Poll, the front-page Column One stories and computer-assisted journalism.

“Karen brings a keen editorial eye and a powerful gift for innovation to the paper,” Coffey said. “She will help us emphasize the top-quality projects that are the hallmark of the Los Angeles Times.”

Wada, a native of Los Angeles, worked as a summer intern at The Times before graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, where she studied journalism, American studies and theater design and criticism. Joining The Times 18 years ago, she worked on the Metro and Suburban staffs before being selected to start the paper’s hiring and development office. As chief of hiring and development, she helped hire hundreds of journalists for The Times.

“Karen’s contributions to the organization have been many and distinguished over the years,” said Times Managing Editor Michael Parks. “Her new responsibilities will call for even more of her vital and innovative work.” Named an assistant managing editor in 1989, Wada carried an additional appointment for two years as editor of the View Section, now known as Life & Style.

Before The Times, Wada worked on smaller newspapers in Northern and Southern California.

Wada is a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Investigative Reporters and Editors and Sigma Delta Chi. She is a board member of the Southern California chapter of the Asian American Journalists Assn. and is a national board member of the National Assn. of Minority Media Executives.