The Los Angeles Times' monthly magazine is undergoing a series of changes, transferring control from its newsroom to its business operations and replacing its entire editorial staff. Editors and reporters have objected to the proposed changes, fearing that the magazine "would become less a work of journalism than a lightweight vehicle for currying favor with advertisers," writes Richard Pérez-Peña of the New York Times.

Pérez-Peña describes a scene of internal chaos, marked by secrecy - Editor-in-chief Russ Stanton was kept uninformed of the changes - and dissent.

Relying on unnamed LA Times executives, Pérez-Peña says the paper has been planning the makeover for months while concealing the plans from everyone in the newsroom. It wasn't until last week that Stanton and other editors were informed. Stanton has asked the paper's publisher, David D. Hiller, and its president, Jack D. Klunder, to change the name of the magazine - Los Angeles Times Magazine - to avoid any association with it.

The Los Angeles Times has gotten into trouble before for blurring the line between business and journalism. In 1999, editors and reporters protested a magazine section about the Staples Center, a sports arena, after learning that the paper shared the section's profits with the arena, according to Pérez-Peña.

The reformed magazine is due out August or September. Executives have yet to respond publicly to editors' complaints.

Source: The New York Times