Parks, Clayton Named to New Posts at Times

Michael Parks, managing editor of the Los Angeles Times, has been named a senior vice president of the paper and Janet Clayton, editor of The Times’ editorial pages, has been named a vice president, Times Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Richard T. Schlosberg III has announced.

Parks, who succeeded George Cotliar as managing editor in May, is assuming the senior vice presidency vacated by George Cotliar’s retirement as The Times’ executive editor Jan. 16. Clayton’s vice presidency is a new position.

“Michael Parks and Janet Clayton represent the very best of today’s journalists and leaders,” Schlosberg said. “After so many years of excellence under George Cotliar’s direction, we are fortunate to have someone of Michael’s integrity and vision to continue that tradition. Janet is a dynamic and thoughtful leader, as knowledgeable about world issues as she is about the diverse Southern California community we serve.”

Clayton, who oversees the editorial pages, and Parks, who oversees all other parts of the Times editorial department, report to Shelby Coffey III, editor and executive vice president of The Times.

“Michael and Janet have brought great drive and energy to their positions,” Coffey said. “Their outstanding leadership strengthens the editorial department and the company as a whole.”

Before being promoted to managing editor and vice president last year, Parks had spent a year as deputy foreign editor after 15 years as a Times correspondent in China, Russia, Israel and South Africa. His dispatches from South Africa won him the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 1987.

Parks, 53, joined The Times in 1980 as Beijing bureau chief after a 12-year career with the Baltimore Sun that included assignments in Beijing, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Moscow and Vietnam.

Clayton was promoted to editor of The Times’ editorial pages in July 1995, after serving five years as the assistant editorial page editor.

She joined the paper as an intern in 1977 and worked as a reporter in Orange County and as an assistant city/county bureau chief in Los Angeles before moving to the Op-Ed pages as an articles editor in 1987. She became an editorial writer in 1989.

Clayton, 41, who has received several awards for her editorial writing, has also been recognized as a Black Woman of Achievement by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.