Times on the Times*

A new editor, Home Shopping Network host Annie Gilbar, has been hired to launch a reconstituted Los Angeles Times Magazine under the direction of the business-side of the paper, according to a story today in the New York Times:

The plan for the magazine was set in motion months ago. A new editor and others were hired, future issues were planned, and mock-up covers were made — all without the knowledge of anyone in the newsroom, including the top editor, Russ Stanton, the executives said. Mr. Stanton and other high-ranking editors learned of the plan last week, they said.

But the executives who described the plan cautioned that it might have changed since last week, after editors raised objections.

-snip-

As recently as a week ago, top editors at the paper were not sure whether [Publisher David] Hiller would eliminate the magazine. But the executives who described the coming changes said the publisher decided months ago to keep it alive with a new staff. Some earlier versions of the plan called for some degree of newsroom oversight, they said, but not the most recent one.

They said that a new editor, art director and photo editor had been hired for the magazine without anyone in the newsroom being told.

*Updated: LA Observed has the memo from LA Times Editor Russ Stanton addressing the future of the magazine.