Ardith Hilliard Named Editor of The Times Valley Edition

Ardith Hilliard, a veteran reporter and editor who has played important roles for The Times in the Valley since 1992, has been named editor of The Times Valley Edition.

Hilliard, 49, succeeds John Arthur, named Thursday as one of the paper’s four new managing editors.

“Ardith Hilliard is one of the strongest editors and journalists I have worked with,” said Arthur. “It has been a real pleasure to work with her in the Valley Edition newsroom for the past few years, during tough times and great times for the Valley.”

Hilliard was one of the key leaders of the Valley Edition team that covered the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The Times won a Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for its coverage of the disaster. Earlier, while working in The Times’ downtown Los Angeles office, she helped coordinate coverage of the 1992 riots. The Times won a 1993 Pulitzer for those stories.

“I was surprised and delighted” by the announcement, said Hilliard, who resides in Woodland Hills with her daughter, Jessica, 17. “In the five years that I have lived here, I have come to understand the lifestyles and aspirations of the people of the Valley, the quest for good schools and a safe environment.”

Hilliard joined The Times Orange County Edition in 1989 and was assigned to the Valley Edition as city editor in July 1992, when she was made responsible for coverage throughout the Valley and surrounding communities. She had previously served as an assistant city editor for metropolitan coverage in Los Angeles and as deputy city editor in Orange County.

“When I was asked to take on the Valley, I knew it was the right thing to do,” Hilliard said. “The San Fernando Valley epitomizes so much of what the city is about.”

As Valley Edition editor, Hilliard will supervise a staff of more than 100 reporters, editors, artists and photographers based at the paper’s plant in Chatsworth.

Raised in New Jersey, Hilliard was “the only gal in the newsroom” when she landed her first journalism job in 1970 as a general assignment reporter for the Atlantic City (N.J.) Press. A graduate of Northwestern University, Hilliard describes herself as “a real walk-in as a journalist. It involved writing, which I love, and once I got into it, I found it to be perfect. I love deadlines and chasing down stories.”

In 1976, Hilliard moved to the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, considered an innovative, writer’s paper. She tackled a variety of assignments during her six years there, ranging from covering higher education and the state Capitol to serving as assistant city editor.

She moved on to various editing positions with the Dallas Times-Herald in 1982, the Omaha World Herald in 1983, and from 1984 to 1989 was suburban editor of the San Jose Mercury News, supervising a staff of 60.