Nick Goldberg gets 'Current'

As many expected, LAT op-ed editor Nick Goldberg today also got responsibility for the Sunday Current section. The staffs of each will be merged and Goldberg receives a couple of deputies: Susan Brenneman for Op-Ed and Gary Spiecker for Current. Goldberg's expanded duties are the result of Current editor Bob Sipchen deciding (shortly after Andr�s Martinez was named to the top opinion job) that it was time to move back into the newsroom. Today's memo from Martinez follows after the jump:

To the Staff:
I am thrilled to announce that Nicholas Goldberg's responsibilities will be expanding in the new year. In addition to editing the daily Op-ed Page, Nick will assume responsibility for the Sunday Current section. His title will be Op-Ed and Current editor. The separate Op-Ed and Current editing teams will merge into one, with Susan Brenneman acting as Nick's deputy for Op-Ed and Gary Spiecker as his deputy for Current.

Nick joined the Los Angeles Times three years ago, and during his tenure the paper's Op-Ed page has flourished as one of the nation's most vibrant outlets for opinion journalism. I need only point to last Sunday's first-person account by Khaled El-Masri of his "extraordinary rendition" at the hands of the CIA as the type of compelling read that Nick and his team bring onto the page. Nick has also assembled a strong team of 10 weekly Op-Ed columnists that are now in place.

The vitality of Nick's Op-Ed page reflects the wealth of his journalistic experience. Nick graduated from Harvard in 1980, and then spent over a decade at Newsday. He did a stint on the business desk, covered Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and served as the paper's Middle East Bureau Chief, based in Jerusalem. Most impressive, Nick survived three years in Albany as the statehouse bureau chief. Prior to coming to the LA Times, Nick spent three years doing political consulting and polling for the Benenson Strategy Group and Penn, Schoen & Berland.

Just to make Nick stress a little, I should point out that he is being handed the reins of Current by one of the newspaper's true creative geniuses, Bob Sipchen, who is heading back to the newsroom to apply his creativity to our multimedia journalism. Bob infused Current with a great deal of energy and a smart irreverent personality which we will seek to preserve.

Please welcome me in congratulating Nick and wishing Bob all the best.

-- Andres Martinez, Editorial Page Editor