Editorial Page editor Terry Tang has been named the new interim executive editor at the Los Angeles Times, TheWrap has exclusively learned. The newspaper confirmed that Tang will be taking over the role that Kevin Merida departed after less than three years.
L.A. Times spokeswoman Hillary Manning confirmed the news to TheWrap saying, “In her new role, Tang will oversee the newsroom and the editorial page.”
“She will immediately begin working to identify a managing editor and organize the newsroom leadership team, and will continue working with deputy Editorial Page editor Mariel Garza, who leads the editorial board, and deputy Op-Ed Editor Susan Brenneman, for op-ed,” the statement continued.
“Under Terry, Opinion has exemplified the critical role that the L.A. Times’ voice plays — to our city, and to the world — in bringing attention to issues that matter most, especially for those whose voices are often unheard,” owner Patrick Soon-Shiong said in a statement.
Additionally, the L.A. Times laid off five more staffers on Wednesday, after cutting 115 jobs the previous day, according to an internal memo from the L.A. Times Guild obtained by TheWrap.
“In one of the most bizarre days of bargaining we’ve experienced, the company unexpectedly raised its layoff target and sent out five more layoff notices Wednesday night,” the guild wrote in the memo. “Then, as midnight neared and we raised protests for our affected colleagues, signaled these notices might not be final.”
The guild has been holding off on going into the specifics of those who have been impacted in the latest round, because “management has changed who they are targeting for layoffs so many times today that we don’t feel comfortable going into detail, because those details could change.”
The union is expecting to continue bargaining with L.A. Times management as planned “sometime later today.”
Additionally, according to the New York Times, L.A. Times management has canceled a newsroom townhall that was scheduled for Thursday following the 20% job cuts.
Just yesterday, staffers arriving at the paper’s offices in El Segundo were greeted by security guards checking a list to ensure laid-off colleagues were denied entry to observe the guild’s bargaining session with management.
