Times taps Web veteran for its site
Meredith Artley, who helped lead the International Herald Tribune’s online edition to substantial growth, was named executive editor of latimes.com on Tuesday.
The appointment came two weeks after Times Editor James E. O’Shea put forth an ambitious plan to combine operations of the newspaper and its website, an effort he described as crucial for ensuring The Times’ reputation as a premier news outlet.
Artley, 33, was digital development director at the Herald Tribune, which is owned by New York Times Co. She will manage a staff of more than 30 and be responsible for day-to-day editorial decisions.
She will be joining the website at a time when the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers nationwide have begun shifting more resources to the Web as advertising dollars continue to decline on the print side.
Artley will be presiding over latimes.com at a crucial time. Its staff will be expanded, the site will be redesigned and new projects will be launched, newly appointed Innovation Editor Russ Stanton and Rob Barrett, vice president and general manager of latimes.com, said in a statement. Moreover, Artley will play a large role in helping integrate The Times’ print and online newsrooms.
“This is a unique opportunity to live and work in a world-class city and help grow one of the best-known media brands anywhere to its full potential online,” Artley said.
She will be moving to Los Angeles from Paris and expects to assume her new duties in late March.
Artley headed the online editorial and business operations at the Herald Tribune over the last four years. The newspaper’s website grew rapidly under her leadership to more than 4 million visitors a month, an increase of more than 200%. The news cycle was expanded to 24 hours and her staff trained many Herald Tribune writers to produce content for the site.
Artley’s online journalism career began in 1996 when NYTimes.com was launched. During her six years as associate editor, she managed the site and hired many staff members. She also supervised special projects, including launches of new sections. In addition, Artley led coverage of 9/11 and was a member of a New York Times team that in 2001 was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series on race relations.
She graduated in 1995 from the University of Missouri with a degree in broadcast journalism.
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