• by Sara Guaglione , October 10, 2017

The Los Angeles Times has tapped Forbes Media Chief Product Officer Lewis D’Vorkin to become its new editor-in-chief. He succeeds Davan Maharaj, who was the editor and publisher of the newspaper before he was let go in August.

The LA Times has undergone many changes this summer. Parent company Tronc dismissed several senior editors — including Maharaj, managing editor Marc Duvoisin, deputy editor for digital Megan Garvey and assistant managing editor of investigations Matt Doig. Former Yahoo executive Ross Levinsohn was hired as the paper’s publisher and CEO.

This week, Levinsohn also named Mickie Rosen, his deputy, the new president of the Los Angeles Times Media Group.

Levinsohn told the LA Times he considered 84 candidates for the top newsroom job.

“This was as important of a hire as I could make,” he said. “It was important to find someone who had deep experience in journalism ... and also who had deep digital chops. He really remade Forbes, he has grown it dramatically.”

At Forbes, D’Vorkin was responsible for pushing online initiatives to boost readership and revenue, such as paying online contributors based on the number of readers their articles attracted and expanding native advertising offerings, with a product called BrandVoice.

D’Vorkin's recent background in advertising and attracting visitors suggests increasing traffic will be a priority, though he told the LA Times in an interview: “Traditional reporting has never been more important than it is today.

D’Vorkin has served as Forbes' Chief Product Officer since 2010. He has previously worked at AOL, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Newsweek.

He will officially take on the new role starting November 1.

Interim editor Jim Kirk will continue through the transition.

Separately, National Journal announced editor-in-chief Stephen G. Smith will step down at the end of the year to become senior editor for Atlantic Media, focusing on special editorial projects for the parent company. Managing editor Ben Pershing will succeed him.

Smith was editor of National Journal when David G. Bradley, chairman of Atlantic Media, purchased the company in 1997. Smith was asked to return two years ago to lead the company through its digital transition.

Pershing joined National Journal in 2014 as Washington editor and was promoted to managing editor in 2015, when Smith returned to the newsroom. He has worked at the Washington Post and Roll Call.