| | | Reporting Structure Changes For Our Times Journalists | LOS ANGELES, January 14, 2000 - About 175 journalists who work for the Los Angeles Times' Our Times community news sections are being more closely integrated into The Times editorial process in order to improve the quality and coordination of Our Times coverage.
Our Times Editor Bill Lobdell, who oversees 15 Our Times sections, now reports to John Arthur, Times managing editor, regional editions, on all editorial content issues.
"The new structure is a natural progression that underscores our desire to have all editorial staffers work in a partnership to assure that the Los Angeles Times provides readers with high-quality local news,'' said Times Editor and Executive Vice President Michael Parks.
"We've been working to better coordinate the Our Times and L.A. Times editorial coverage since Our Times became part of The Times last year," Arthur said. "This change will help ensure the level of quality that Times readers expect. It will also result in better coordination of coverage and enhance the quality of these highly valued sections."
Lobdell also oversees nine community newspapers published by Times Community News. He continues to report to Robert G. Magnuson, Times senior vice president, regions, on these publications as well as on Our Times administrative issues. The other Times Community News publications are the Costa Mesa/Newport Beach Daily Pilot, the Huntington Beach Independent, the Glendale, Burbank and Foothill newspapers, the Pasadena Weekly, and the Westside, South Bay and San Gabriel zoned weeklies.
Our Times is published weekly in the Crenshaw and the Montebello/Pico Rivera areas of Los Angeles and twice a week in Santa Monica. Times readers in Ventura are served by three Our Times papers which publish Monday through Friday in the Conejo Valley, in West Ventura and in Simi Valley. Weekly Our Times are published in Santa Clarita and in the Toluca Lake-Tarzana area. In portions of the Inland Empire, Times readers get the Inland Valley Our Times, published six days a week.
In Orange County, as part of The Times' extensive local news report, Our Times pages are included each weekday in the Orange County section delivered to 20 communities: Aliso Viejo, Anaheim Hills, Brea, Coto de Caza, Dana Point, Foothill Ranch, Fullerton, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, La Habra, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Yorba Linda.
Each Our Times includes news about local government and businesses as well as stories about neighborhood personalities, sports, organizations and events.
"Our Times' local coverage is a vital element of our strategy to increase circulation throughout Southern California, and readers have responded very favorably to our coverage," said Magnuson. "No other newspaper can match our mix of community, regional, state, national and international news, and this will make our local coverage even stronger and more appealing."
The Los Angeles Times is a Times Mirror newspaper. The Times, winner of 23 Pulitzer Prizes, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country. It publishes four daily regional editions--covering the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the San Fernando Valley, and Orange and Ventura counties--as well as a National Edition. | |