LOS ANGELES (TIP): Los Angeles Times fired its Indian origin Editor-Publisher Davan Maharaj on August 21 as part of a massive personnel shakeup in the newspaper. Tronc, Inc., parent company of the fifth-largest newspaper in the United States says the shake-up is aimed at moving one of the nation’s flagship newspapers more quickly into the digital age while bolstering its Washington coverage and other reporting.
Maharaj, a 28-year veteran of the Times who had held both titles since 2016, was terminated along with Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin, Deputy Managing Editor for Digital Megan Garvey and Assistant Managing Editor of Investigations Matt Doig.
Veteran media executive Ross Levinsohn, the former interim CEO of Yahoo, was named Times publisher. Jim Kirk, who until last week was editor and publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times, was named interim executive editor and he will lead the search for a new editor in chief.
“During the last 28 years, it has been an honor working with the best journalists in a great American newsroom. They are indomitable, and I wish them well in their continued fight to serve our community. I’m proud of the work we’ve done,” Maharaj wrote in an email to employees.
Maharaj was born in Trinidad and Tobago and is of Hindu Indian descent. He worked as a reporter at the Trinidad Express before moving to the United States, where he received a degree in political science from the University of Tennessee, as well as a master’s degree in law from Yale University. He started his career at the Los Angeles Times as an intern in 1989, subsequently working as a reporter in Los Angeles, Orange County, and East Africa. He won the 2005 Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Writing.
Maharaj received a political science degree from University of Tennessee, and a master’s degree in law from Yale University.
In December 2011, Maharaj was named editor and executive vice president of the Times. In March 2016, he was named editor-in-chief and publisher of the Los Angeles Times. He used to oversee the largest daily newsgathering organization in the West.