LA Times Gets New Editor-In-Chief

In another dramatic shake-up at the Los Angeles Times, Chicago journalist Jim Kirk is expected to be named editor in chief of the newspaper, replacing Lewis D'Vorkin, who will move to a position within the parent company.

The move — which is expected to be announced Monday— follows two weeks of turmoil at The Times, including a unionization vote by newsroom employees and accelerating hostilities between D'Vorkin and his staff, reports The LATimes.

Jim Kirk

Kirk, who previously served as publisher and editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, joined The Times' parent company, Tronc, in August. He was named interim editor of The Times on Aug. 21 after a sweeping shake-up of top editors, but Kirk stepped aside after D'Vorkin joined The Times in early November.

This time around, Kirk, 52, is being named the permanent editor to lead The Times' newsroom, said Marisa Kollias, spokesperson for Tronc.

The shake-up comes after years of staff cutbacks and management changes at the newspaper. Kirk becomes the third top editor at the Times in less than six months.

According to The NYTimes, D’Vorkin, 65, who became the newspaper’s top editor in November, will become Tronc’s chief content officer, a strategic role that will involve establishing new products to distribute the company’s journalism, according to a company official briefed on the plans but not authorized to speak publicly about personnel matters.

In an interview on Sunday night, Kirk, 52, conveyed a willingness to improve morale in the newsroom and calm the tensions between managers and Times journalists.

Meanwhile, the new Los Angeles Times union is demanding that management provide answers on an alleged “shadow newsroom”  forming that may be an attempt to circumvent the bargaining unit.

According to Deadline.Hollywod, reports have surfaced that parent company Tronc is building a new company called Los Angeles Times Network that is not part of the existing LA Times. The new entity has made several editorial hires that report to the business side, a development which has raised eyebrows among the journalists. There have also been reports that management is concerned about leaks from within about the new strategy and is monitoring phone and email conversations.


In a note posted latguild.com by the Los Angeles Times Guild organizing committee and addressed to “Dear Colleagues,” the union said, “As journalists, we demand transparency from the people we cover. As employees of the Los Angeles Times, we demand the same of the executives who run our company.”

The note also rattled a sabre. “Rest assured our newsroom remains mobilized and powerful and we are covered by legal protections.” It went on to tell workers that they can have a union representative present during any attempt to “grill” staffers about media leaks or “anything else.”

Harvard’s Nieman Lab, a prominent journalism analysis outlet, said recent hires by the business side are being framed as part of a “reorganization.”

The 136-year-old Los Angeles Times editorial workers had their union certified by the National Labor Relations Board earlier this month. The union was voted in by an overwhelming 248-44. The employees will be represented by the Washington-based NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America.

The issues come during a turbulent period for the newspaper, whose owner re-branded from Tribune to Tronc in 2016 and installed Ross Levinsohn as publisher and Lewis D’Vorkin as editor. Both have talked of sweeping operational changes as the paper, like all print outlets, battles to stay ahead of seismic changes in consumer habit and the advertising business.