Veteran journalist Pearlstine named editor of LA Times

LOS ANGELES -- Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire biotech executive who on Monday officially took ownership of the Los Angeles Times, named Norman Pearlstine as the newspaper's new executive editor as he seeks to restore the newspaper's morale.

In turning to Pearlstine, 75, a veteran of Time Inc., Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, Soon-Shiong was sending a message to the newspaper's beleaguered staff, which has endured steep cuts and diminished ambitions in recent years, slipping from the top echelon of U.S. news outlets.

"He's the perfect person to guide us into this new era," Soon-Shiong said in an interview Monday morning, as he sat in traffic on his way to the Los Angeles Times' office to make the announcement.

He started talking to Pearlstine shortly after he announced the deal, which closed Monday after a wire transfer to Tronc, the Chicago-based company that had owned the paper, went through.

Soon-Shiong, who will take on the role of executive chairman at the paper, also said he immediately plans to invest $150 million in building a 10-acre campus for the newspaper in El Segundo, an area near the Los Angeles airport, that will include a museum to honor the newspaper's past. "Like the Newseum in Washington, D.C.," he said.

Soon-Shiong's acquisition of the newspaper returns it to local control after 18 years of out-of-town management.

In its heyday, the newspaper was an essential institution in the city, helping bind together a vast and sprawling metropolis. It began its rise in the late 1800s when it was bought by Harrison Gray Otis, a Civil War colonel, and over the years was an important cheerleader for Southern California, helping the rise of the region's industries -- aerospace, Hollywood, real estate.

Tronc Inc., whose name was widely ridiculed after its debut two years ago, is considering abandoning the moniker, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Executives have discussed the idea but no decision has been made, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

In June 2016, while fighting a hostile takeover bid from Gannett Co., Tribune Publishing Co. announced it was renaming itself Tronc, which stands for Tribune Online Content, to reflect its new digital ambitions. The name sparked ridicule online, with the entertainment site Deadline asking, "Is 'Tronc' The Worst Corporate Brand Name Ever?"

Business on 06/19/2018

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