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It will start up in the next few months and likely focus on local politics, an exec of the L.A. Newspaper Group tells James Nash in the L.A. Business Journal (subscribers only). The Daily News and other papers in the group—the Long Beach Press Telegram and San Gabriel Valley Tribune among them—are getting website redesigns that may include more blogs and efforts at citizen journalism. "We’re just going to stick our toes in the water and experiment a little," said John Hoeft, vice president of interactive media. A model for the experiments might be the Denver Post, also owned by Dean Singleton's Media News Group, which lets readers submit stories and photographs that end up in the printed paper. One thing the Daily News won't be copying is the L.A. Times ill-conceived attempt at wikitorials, Hoeft said: "We watched and learned." How it all might affect LA.com, which is based at the Daily News, is unclear.
Also: Nash's weekly column adds up recent changes in the business ranks at the Times: five of eight execs at the senior VP level or above are new, with a definite Tribune Co. flavor to the hires. The most interesting new addition is John O’Loughlin, a Tribune veteran who joins the LAT on Aug. 1 as senior vice president for marketing, planning and development. Nash calls the 37-year-old "a rising star within Tribune" who launched RedEye, a youth-oriented edition of the Chicago Tribune.