No sooner did I say I wasn’t sure the LA Times “gets” it re meshing print and online then the paper announces the appointment of Joel Sappell to the masthead position of AME and executive editor for interactive. Reporting to LAT Editor Dean Baquet and GM/Interactive Robertson Barrett, Sappell will oversee editorial content on latimes.com and calendarlive.com, and new initiatives such as TheEnvelope.com, the entertainment awards site slate for a Novermber launch. Sappell has a strong editorial background, most recently as senior entertainment editor responsible for business entertainment coverage.
Baquet explains the move in an LAT story published on the site today: “It has become clear over time that interactive is a different animal, but one that should be guided by the same bedrock principles as the newsroom. It is a testament to the importance of the Web that we are placing one of our most creative and aggressive editors in charge of the editorial part of the site.” He also called the interactive space “vital” to the paper’s future.
(Some day maybe I’ll find the energy to trace the Times’ tortured online chronology.) I had the chance to chat with Rob a little at our mixer and I look forward to hearing more. Of course, the proof is in the pudding so we’ll be watching this very carefully. (via Romenesko.)
L.A. Observed has the internal memo. One line caught my attention: ‘Over the past few months traffic to the web site has increased significantly.” Just thinking out loud … could that have anything to do with dropping the subscription for calendarlive.com?
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