The Los Angeles Times has named Terry Tang as interim executive editor of the newspaper, following the departure of executive editor Kevin Merida earlier this month. Tang is the first woman to hold the position. Her appointment comes after more than 20% of the newsroom was laid off in one of the largest workforce reductions in the paper’s 142-year history. Tang spoke with Lisa McRee about what’s ahead.

The Los Angeles Times is Tang’s hometown newspaper. She talked about growing up in Gardena, California and her career in news thus far.

“I was a lawyer, and then I became a staff writer at Seattle Weekly. I joined the Seattle Times as an editorial writer, a columnist, and then I moved to the New York Times, where I was there as an editorial writer and then [held] many different jobs through The New York Times for 20 years. And then I was the director of publications and editorial at the ACLU before coming here to the LA times,” Tang shared. 

Tang spoke about how the paper will move forward in an election year after at least 115 newsroom employees were laid off this month. 

“I’ve always thought that journalism is rather like the emergency room of democracy. We are sort of first responders. The kinds of journalism we do, the truth that we tell, the lens that we present to the public, that’s crucial with the election coming up. And that is a primary mission of any newspaper, and it certainly is the mission of the LA times,” Tang said. “We are rededicating ourselves and resetting a bit, because of our reduced staffing. But that doesn’t mean that our mission has changed, and it doesn’t mean that we cannot continue on being the LA Times. It’s an incredibly proud institution. And the stature of this institution won’t change.”

Tang also addressed concerns about how to attract younger audiences who will subscribe to the paper while not alienating long-term readers. 

“The forces that affect society affect journalism, and the mediums that work now may not be the mediums that will last another 20 years, but journalism will last because people will need ideas and information. The LA times, as an institution, with its history and its talent and its superb journalists, we’re going to move and change as journalism has always changed. In this institution, we’ve never thought of ourselves as focusing on one audience. It’s to bring readers together. It’s the mass audience and the information that our voters need and the information our communities need. And that’s not divided by age,” Tang said. 

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