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Jan 24, 2012

KPCC hires former Los Angeles Times editor to oversee content

Former Los Angeles Times Editor Russ Stanton has joined pubradio station KPCC as its new vice president of content, the station announced Tuesday (Jan. 24). Stanton's arrival "is part of an aggressive effort by the nonprofit news organization to become the preeminent regional source for both broadcast and online news — with deeper, more enterprising and investigative coverage," according to a story on the KPCC website.

Stanton had left the newspaper last month in what was called a "mutual decision" with Times President Kathy Thomson. During his four years at the helm, the paper won three Pulitzer Prizes, including a prestigious Public Service award. At KPCC, Stanton will be responsible for the station's broadcasts, website and live events coverage; one of his first duties will be to select an executive editor supervise daily operations of the newsroom on broadcast and digital platforms.

The hire is part of plans by Southern California Public Radio to more than double KPCC's 57-person newsroom by July 2014, a response to last year’s Knight Commission report that criticized public broadcasting’s inadequate commitment to local journalism (Current, Oct. 18, 2011). Its board has approved a plan to raise $24 million to do so. The nonprofit has raised some $8 million so far and hired 20 staffers for its news department in the past year. Thirteen more, including producers, editors, bloggers and hosts, will come onboard this year.

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