The Los Angeles Times has a new editor. It’s Kevin Merida — one of the more respected journalists in the business.
He comes over after running The Undefeated, ESPN’s website that explores the intersection of race, culture and sports. And before that, he had a distinguished career at The Washington Post.
In fact, Merida’s name came up as a possible successor to Marty Baron, who retired earlier this year as the Post’s executive editor. Merida’s reputation inside the Post was solid.
So what happened with Merida and the Post? Well, here’s what Vanity Fair’s Joe Pompeo wrote a little over a month ago:
“Here’s what I learned from people with knowledge of the matter. Merida was encouraged to apply for the job, but he wasn’t exactly courted, at least not in the way one might have expected given all the boxes he appears to tick off: vast experience at the Post and support from former colleagues; stewardship of an innovative digital start-up inside a major media corporation; prominent journalist of color. The Los Angeles Times, which is a few months into its own hunt for an executive editor, has vigorously pursued Merida from the outset, and Disney has apparently made it clear that it doesn’t want to lose him to either newspaper. The Post, on the other hand, has been surprisingly ‘passive,’ as one source put it, and Merida decided not to enter the formal application process.”
Who knows why the Post wasn’t more aggressive with Merida. Maybe the Post is looking for a long-term editor — someone who could take over for 15 or so years, and, perhaps, Merida’s age (64) didn’t align with that plan.
But it works out well for the Los Angeles Times — a news outlet that has done a lot of good things since Dr. Patrick and Michele Soon-Shiong took over as majority owners in 2018. They hired veteran editor Norman Pearlstine as executive editor and the paper went on to win three Pulitzer Prizes. In addition, under the Soon-Shiongs, the paper added more than 100 journalists, increasing the total to more than 500.
But there have been serious issues, too.
The news organization has had a reckoning over race, with even Dr. Soon-Shiong writing last year, “But over its history, The Times has also mirrored, and in some cases propagated, the biases and prejudices of the world it covers, reflecting and shaping attitudes that have contributed to social and economic inequity. … We are beginning the process of acknowledging those biases of the past and taking positive action to affirm a commitment that our newsroom will not tolerate prejudice.”
Soon-Shiong added, “We are committed to change, both because it is just and because it is mission-critical for our business. Only a diverse newsroom can accurately tell this city’s stories. Only a newspaper that holds power to account and uncovers injustice can truly succeed.”
Hiring Merida, who is Black, is a step in that direction.
Merida also is being tasked with addressing the Times’ disappointing digital numbers. The Times’ Meg James wrote, “The Times has struggled to make the transition to digital media, hobbled by years of management turmoil, layoffs and underinvestment when it was owned by Tribune Publishing, which called itself Tronc for a couple of years.”
James reported that despite doubling its online subscribers in the past two years, the numbers are still disappointing. James wrote, “The Times has nearly 400,000 digital-only subscribers, which includes those who subscribe through Apple News+, the Cupertino tech giant’s paid subscription news service. It lags far behind major East Coast papers: the New York Times boasts more than 6 million digital subscribers and the Washington Post has nearly 3 million.”
Soon-Shiong told James, “And most importantly, (Merida’s) job is to move us into the digital arena. We want this paper to grow and be around for another 139 years.”
The financial picture at the Times, as it is for many newspapers, is uncertain at best. Company leadership said the Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune lost “north of $50 million” in revenue in 2020 — in large part due to COVID-related problems. Figuring out the digital aspect is critical.
If anyone can address the Times’ cultural issues, as well as begin to fix the Times journalism worries (read: digital subscriptions and online presence), it’s Merida.
Merida’s work at The Undefeated has been exemplary. The New York Times’ Katie Robertson wrote, “He got The Undefeated up and running, quickly establishing its editorial identity. The site’s relevance grew as prominent Black athletes embraced activism amid the rise of the social justice movement after the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.”
This is a strong hire by the Los Angeles Times.
For more, James has a Q&A with Merida, who told her that it was difficult to leave The Undefeated.
“Yeah, it was very difficult,” Merida said. “We literally built a startup from the ground up and from outside of a big company, first with ESPN then expanding it across Walt Disney Co. It was about to be at the next level, growing with the different content streams and building a global brand. And so it was hard to leave. But I’ve always said it was not a one-person operation. But it’s not my Undefeated: Everybody built it, the leadership and the people in place, will carry it forward and continue to grow it. And I’ll be watching with enthusiasm and applause from the sidelines.”
As far as the Los Angeles Times, Merida told James, “I see nothing but opportunity. I think this can be the most innovative media company in the country.”
Merida’s hire
Merida becomes the third person of color to take over as editor in the 139-year history of The Los Angeles Times. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The New York Times, was the Los Angeles Times editor from 2004 to 2005. Davan Maharaj was editor from 2011 to 2017.
What about the Post?
As I wrote back in March, a source close to the situation offered up this list of potential candidates to be the next executive editor of the Post: Rebecca Blumenstein, Carolyn Ryan and Marc Lacey — all high-ranking editors at The New York Times; National Geographic editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg; Star Tribune editor and senior vice president Rene Sanchez; and internal candidates Cameron Barr and Steven Ginsberg.
All indications are the Post will make a decision soon on its next editor.
Merida’s replacement at ESPN
ESPN wasted no time replacing Merida at The Undefeated. Raina Kelley, who has been The Undefeated’s managing editor since 2015, was promoted to editor-in-chief of The Undefeated.
Before joining The Undefeated, Kelley was deputy editor of ESPN The Magazine. She also has worked at Newsweek.
In a statement, Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN and Sports Content, said, “We know The Undefeated will continue to thrive with Raina in this role.”
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