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Mariel Garza has been the opinion editor for the Daily News, and then took on added responsibilities for the Daily Breeze and Press-Telegram when those papers were put under DN editor Carolina Garcia, Now Garza will oversee the editorial pages for the whole Los Angeles News Group chain, based in West Covina. It's one of the first moves by new VP and Executive Editor Michael A. Anastasi. Here's his newsroom memo.
Michael A. Anastasi Vice President and Executive Editor Los Angeles News GroupAug. 20, 2012
Colleagues,
I am very pleased to announce the immediate appointment of Mariel Garza as Opinion Editor of the Los Angeles News Group.
This move is the first of several that will come in the formation of our new senior management team over the next few weeks as we complete the process of reorganizing into what effectively and efficiently will function as a single newsroom across LANG’s Southern California footprint.
Our goal is to leverage the strength of the staffs of our nine titles to produce sophisticated and smart region-wide journalism while simultaneously preserving the unmatched deep reach and connections we always have had, and will continue to have, into the complex communities in which we and our readers live.
Mariel is the perfect choice to help lead our organization forward.
A journalist for more than 20 years, Mariel joined the Daily News as a reporter in 2001 and has spent nine years working the editorial pages, first as a writer and columnist, and then as editor since 2008.
A San Francisco State graduate, she previously worked for the Fontana Herald News, the Daily Bulletin, the L.A. Times and the Riverside Press-Enterprise. She’s lived or worked widely throughout the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys as well as the Inland Empire. She also is a member of the adjunct faculty at USC's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, where she teaches news writing and reporting to graduates and undergraduates.
Mariel, who will report jointly to Jack Klunder and me and be based along with me in West Covina, will coordinate our Opinion coverage across LANG into a single, unified effort. Editorially, we will speak with one voice on issues that impact all of the Southland while continuing to offer strong views on local issues throughout our individual communities.
She will begin forming her team immediately to both complete an ambitious plan for election season and get moving on a number of digital initiatives that she and I are very passionate about. Outstanding Opinion coverage is a cornerstone of our overall editorial plans to improve reader engagement and drive print and digital audience growth.
Congratulations, Mariel!
—Mike
