The Los Angeles Times announced today that Kevin Merida has been named executive editor. LA Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong heralded Merida’s arrival as “the next chapter of The Los Angeles Times in the digital era.”
Merida has last served as Editor in Chief of ESPN’s The Undefeated. Furthermore, he was a Senior Vice President at the network. The ESPN exec has co-authored Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas and Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs.
Merida joined ESPN in November 2015. “The Undefeated” is ESPN’s media platform that explored the intersections of sports, race and culture. The network said Merida was “responsible for the site’s editorial direction, tone and policies, and provides oversight and strategy leadership for key initiatives.”
Prior to his post at ESPN, Merida was The Washington Post’s managing editor for news, features, and the paper’s Universal News Desk. In that role, he assisted in The Washington Post’s digital transformation. During his tenure, The Post won three Pulitzer Prizes. He was originally hired by the Post in 1993 as a Congressional correspondent and national political writer.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Los Angeles Times. I’m going to do everything I can to make this the greatest media outlet for the people of California, of L.A. — and beyond. I see nothing but opportunity. I think this can be the most innovative media company in the country.”
Kevin Merida
The LA Times says Merida was “deeply involved in the Post’s online push that led to sustained subscriber growth, gaining insights that could prove valuable to his success at The Times.” Subscriptions have been named key by every major newspaper publisher this year- Lee Enterprises, News Corp, Gannett and The New York Times included. Papers, like USA TODAY, that rely on single copy or hotel distribution, rather than subscriptions, have seen their circulation rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Los Angeles Times Fact Box
- Averages 45 million unique visitors to its digital site
- Doubled online subscribers in last years but short of Dr. Soon-Shiong’s goal of 3 million subscribers
- Currently has 400,000 digital only subscribers, including those who subscribe through Apple News
