New LATimes editor is former biz editor

Russ Stanton will step down as the editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times on Dec. 23, and managing editor Davan Maharaj will assume the top newsroom job, reports Christopher Goffard of the paper.

Both Stanton and Maharaj are former business editors of the paper.

Goffard writes, “Maharaj, 49, will become the paper’s 15th editor. He is a native of Trinidad with a political science degree from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in law from Yale.

“Maharaj has worked at the paper for 22 years, with stints in Orange County, Los Angeles and East Africa.

“His six-part series ‘Living on Pennies,’ which explored extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, won the 2005 Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Writing, and his 2006 investigation into the dubious practices of a Leisure World probate attorney prompted changes in California law.

“Maharaj worked as an assistant foreign editor and became Business editor in 2007, emphasizing greater coverage of consumer issues and personal finance. He has been managing editor for news since May 2008, with responsibility for the foreign, national, metro, sports and business staffs.”

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