Change of plans at LAT

Assistant national editor Millie Quan will become the new Column One editor at the Los Angeles Times, not the senior editor in Features as announced in August. Of course, the editor who announced it then is gone. This morning's memo from Russ Stanton:

From: Stanton, Russ
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 8:50 AM
To: yyeditall
Subject: Millie Quan, Senior Editor/Enterprise

Millie Quan, an assistant national editor for the last seven years, becomes senior editor/enterprise, effective immediately.

In her new role, Millie will edit Column Ones, helping fill the void created when Roger Smith became national editor. She also will edit narratives, projects and other enterprise. Millie will continue to work with the national editor and several reporters whose stories she edited on the national desk.

In the projects wing of the newsroom, Millie joins Roxane Arnold and Bill Rempel to form an exceptionally strong and experienced editing team.

This new position is an excellent fit, for Millie and for the paper. She has high standards, high energy and a flair for distinctive story-telling. Last year, nearly 70 Column Ones from the national desk passed through her hands.

Millie had been slated to move to features after the presidential election, as a senior editor with a mission to bring more features stories to Page One. The recent round of staff cuts prompted us to reconsider that idea.

Millie joined the Times in 1998 as an assignment editor in Business. She later was named political editor and ran coverage of the 2000 presidential campaign. Before coming to Los Angeles, Millie was an assistant managing editor at the Seattle Times and also worked at the Oregonian.

She will report to Deputy Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin.

Russ Stanton
Editor