US: LA Times maintaining strong foreign report, and has three areas of change

David Hiller, publisher, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Times, talks the paper's future to Forbes.com.

Hiller assures that the LA Times, being one of the few U.S. papers left with a strong number of foreign correspondents, will continue "to keep a strong foreign report," and over time, "gauge what size should it be, where those correspondents are allocated, and also look at how we do collaborate with, for example, our sister paper the Chicago Tribune."

He says that there may be a chance in eliminating overlap between the two staffs to cut costs while still maintaining quality coverage.

Three areas that are in the most need of change are:
1. Continuing to grow and build Internet business. They just launched an online entertainment product, The Guide, that's built on a platform that allows for hyper-local news and user-generated content.

2. Finishing the integration of the print and online operations. "You're always going to have specialists, people who do different things," says Hiller. "[But] particularly in this environment, we need to make sure there's no redundancy, that all the players can write for both print and online and editors can edit for both, etc., etc."

3. Continuing the redesign or re-imagining of the main print newspaper. In the 24- hour continuous news cycle, the LA Times' mantra is to break news online and do something else in print.

As for the synchronization between the newsroom and the business side of the paper, Hiller says that they are "getting there."

"Life is a journey. I think we make headway every day," he concludes.

Source: Forbes.com through IFRA Executive News Service