L.A. Times Business Editor to Return to Work Thursday After Suspension, Management Shakeup
Kimi Yoshino, the Los Angeles Times business editor unceremoniously suspended last week without a public explanation, is returning to work Thursday.
Yoshino, a well-regarded editor, had been suspended by former editor-in-chief Lewis D’Vorkin amid an aggressive effort to learn which newsroom staffers were responsible for leaks to outside news organizations reporting on turmoil afflicting the newspaper. The incident caused an immediate revolt in the newsroom, and within days, Tronc, the Times’ parent company, had removed D’Vorkin from the post and named him to a senior position at Tronc.
Tronc on Sunday named veteran Chicago journalist Jim Kirk as editor-in-chief. He had been interim editor until D’Vorkin’s appointment in October. During an all-hands meeting on Monday, Kirk said he had invited Yoshino to return.
The Times has been besieged in recent weeks by a number of scandals, including an investigation into Los Angeles Times publisher and CEO Ross Levinsohn after NPR published a report detailing two sexual-harassment settlements and past inappropriate behavior by Levinsohn. He is currently on unpaid leave while an outside law firm investigates.
Newsroom staffers, who recently voted overwhelmingly to unionize, have been aggressively pushing back on plans recently unveiled by Tronc executives, who want to create a network of unpaid contributors similar to a model recently abandoned by the Huffington Post. After Yoshino’s suspension, Times journalists issued public statements in support of the business editor.
Yoshino on Wednesday declined to comment.
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