Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong has appointed editorial page editor Terry Tang as editor-in-chief of the paper on an interim basis

immediately effective

.

pliers,

whose appointment takes effect immediately

becomes the first female editor in the paper’s 142-year history.

Soon-Shiong moved quickly to appoint the new leader and sort out a newsroom ravaged by significant layoffs, a one-day strike and the loss of three top editors in the past two weeks. By turning to Tang, a respected journalist who worked at the New York Times earlier in her career, Soon-Shiong chose a leader with whom he had already built trust.

Earlier this week, the Times laid off more than

115120

journalists to cut costs to reduce the tens of millions of dollars in losses the newspaper has suffered since the Soon-Shiong family took over the organization for $500 million in 2018.

“I deeply appreciate the work all of you are doing within the organization, and am excited as we transition to new editorial leadership with Terry,” Soon-Shiong said in a note to staff on Thursday. We are committed to providing important public service journalism that our community relies on while accelerating new, emerging approaches. We will act decisively to reach new audiences. With today’s announcement, that implementation has begun.

Tang will continue to oversee the editorial page, working with deputy editor Mariel Garza, who leads the editorial team; and deputy opinion editor Susan Brenneman, for the op-ed, Soon-Shiong said.

Tang will appoint an editor-in-chief who will oversee the daily operations of the newsroom.

pliers,

65

, has been leading the opinion section for almost two years. She joined The Times in 2019 as deputy Op-Ed editor after two years at the American Civil Liberties Union, where she was director of publications and editing. Previously, she spent 20 years at the New York Times in various roles across the opinion and news sides of the operation. Earlier in her career, she worked at the Seattle Times and as a reporter at the Seattle Weekly.

Many of you have already had the opportunity to work with Terry, Soon-Shiong said. I have worked with Terry for the past two years in her capacity as leader of LA Times Opinion. She has continually impressed me with her passion for the important role journalism plays in our lives and her love for Southern California, where she grew up.

Soon-Shiong has

praised and proud of

the opinion section since Tang took over.

In Thursday’s statement, he said she has shown tremendous leadership in her work on our opinion team, finding ways to engage readers on the most pressing issues of the day. Under her, Opinion has exemplified the critical role the LA Times voice plays for our city and for the world in spotlighting the issues that matter most, especially to those whose voices often go unheard.

She graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and received her law degree from New York University School of Law. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in the early 1990s.

Her family immigrated to Los Angeles from Taiwan and she grew up in Gardena.

Soon-Shiong has said he believes The Times has a strong future despite losing more than 20% of its newsroom to the layoffs.

The decision to reduce our workforce has been difficult for all of us, but we are committed to our mission as a thriving pillar of democracy, Soon-Shiong said in

the A

note for the employees. A vibrant, self-sustaining and growing future for the LA Times will require new approaches to better engage with our readers and build new audiences.