The Los Angeles Times named Marc Duvoisin managing editor on Thursday, filling the paper's long-vacant No. 2 editing job.
The position had been open since December, when then-managing editor Davan Maharaj took over as the paper’s top editor. Maharaj succeeded Russ Stanton, who later took a job at local radio station KPCC.
Duvoisin most recently served as deputy managing editor for projects and enterprise, and he will now oversee the day-to-day operation of the newsroom.
“It reflects months of thought about how we position The Times to succeed in the digital era while maintaining the values and traditions of great journalism that brought us here in the first place,” Maharaj said in a memo to staff.
“The new managing editor must help us push change even further, while also putting out the world-class newspaper our readers have come to expect. Marc is that person.”
Duvoisin has been with the paper for more than a decade, recruited by former editor John Caroll to be an assistant managing editor overseeing Column One and, later, special projects.
The New Jersey native began his career as an intern at the Allentown Morning Call, moving on to the Bergen Record and then the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he worked as a reporter and editor for almost 20 years.
Filling the managing editor job was a challenge as financial troubles at parent company Tribune impacted one of its top newspapers. The Times let go more than a dozen staffers in March, and lost Sallie Hofmeister, its top arts & entertainment editor, in June.
However, parent company Tribune received judicial approval for its reorganization plan in July, paving the way for an exit from bankruptcy almost four years in the making.
Maharaj said the search came down to Duvoisin’s commitment to great journalism, evidenced by his stewardship of enterprise pieces like “Big Burn,” a Pulitzer-Prize winning series about the growth and cost of wildfires.
Here's the full memo:
To the staff:
I’m pleased to announce that Marc Duvoisin is the new managing editor of the Los Angeles Times.
As you know, this announcement is a long time coming. It reflects months of thought about how we position The Times to succeed in the digital era while maintaining the values and traditions of great journalism that brought us here in the first place. I’m immensely proud of how the newsroom continues to adapt and tackle each new challenge. Our commanding Web audience and unwavering commitment to the best enterprise journalism are a tribute to your focus and creativity. The new managing editor must help us push change even further, while also putting out the world-class newspaper our readers have come to expect.
Marc is that person.
In his 10-plus years at Spring Street, Marc has had a guiding hand in some of the finest journalism we’ve published. He’s shown an ability to bring together diverse newsroom disciplines to make our most ambitious work shine.
Marc has credentials to spare. He’s been a reporter, a foreign correspondent, a city editor, a projects editor. I’ve long valued his advice and admired his surgeon’s touch with copy, his exacting standards and his passion for the work we do. As managing editor, he will work with section editors to generate our daily news report. The national, foreign, California, business and sports departments will report to him.
Marc grew up in New Jersey and went to Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a B.A. in humanistic studies. He got his start in the news business as an intern at the Allentown Morning Call. He became a reporter at the Bergen Record in New Jersey and then moved to the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he spent nearly 20 years in various reporting and editing roles. He served a tour as the paper’s Middle East correspondent, based in Cairo. He covered the Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. bombing of Libya, the first Palestinian uprising and other stories.
In 2001, John Carroll asked Marc to move to L.A. He became an assistant managing editor at The Times, overseeing Column One and, later, projects as well.
Marc is a lover of classical music, the New York Yankees and espresso concoctions, on which he cheerfully spends obscene sums of money. Anyone who follows him on Twitter knows his fascination with the Higgs boson and other arcane subjects.
I’ve been immersed with Kathy as well as Marc, Jimmy and others over the past months mapping out new digital initiatives. The membership program is just the beginning of many changes that will strengthen The Times and better serve our readers. These will require all of us to think differently about what we do. But they will not change the principles that guide us. Marc represents our highest values and ambitions, as the population series, the “Big Burn” series, the community college series and countless others attest. His painstaking commitment to quality is an essential ingredient in our future.
Please join me in congratulating Marc and supporting him in his new role.
