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It's Bill Sing, the L.A. Times Business Editor for six years until the new Tribune leadership came in. The paper has also hired Marc Lifsher away from the Wall Street Journal to be a business reporter based in Sacramento.
The Sing memo follows:
To: The Staff
From: Dean Baquet, Managing Editor
Rick Wartzman, Business EditorWe are thrilled to announce the appointment of Bill Sing to the newly created position of Economics Editor.
Enhancing economics coverage is among the paper's highest priorities this year.
This emphasis stems from a growing recognition that regions' and countries' economic competitiveness and standards of living are as important as politics or national security. It also reflects the importance of jobs, trade and other economic issues in the presidential election, and the prominence of California's economy as a global player.
In his new post, Bill will lead a team of reporters dedicated to covering the economy--in California and the West, as well as around the nation and across the world. He will report to Business Editor Rick Wartzman but also will work closely with the National and Foreign desks, in addition to the campaign team.
With this in mind, Bill and representatives from other departments will meet weekly with Managing Editor Dean Baquet to ensure that the paper is devoting sufficient firepower to this crucial topic.
Bill has been Senior Editor in charge of editing and creating special sections for the paper since September 2002. Before that, he served as Business Editor of The Times for six years. During his tenure, The Times' Business section won a Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting.
Bill will assume his new post on Jan 19. Please join us in wishing him every success in his new job.