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The Times has filled the New York television beat opening created when Elizabeth Jensen resigned. Moving east is Matea Gold, who has been covering politics. She was a primary reporter on the last campaign for mayor. She is a former editor of the UCLA Daily Bruin.
* Also in staffing news: CityBeat is looking for "a senior staff writer who is fluent in both hard news and cultural issues. The ideal candidate is a tireless news reporter who can also craft a magazine-style cover story on deadline. This writer would ultimately be expected to understand the workings of City Hall and also be tapped into the rich cultural environment of Los Angeles."
The Times memo on Gold follows:
To: The Staff
From: Lennie LaGuire, Deputy Features Editor/Entertainment Editor
It's a great pleasure to announce that Matea Gold is joining the Calendar staff as our New York television/entertainment beat reporter.
Matea, as many of you know, is an exceptionally accomplished reporter with tremendous energy and an unflagging commitment to top-notch journalism. In the nine years since she first walked into The Times as an intern, Matea has done first-rate work on two presidential campaigns, the 2002 governor's race and in a rich array of Metro beats and assignments stretching from the Westside to East L.A. to City Hall to the Mexican border.
It's rare to find someone who's so quickly proven herself to be so good at so many things. Matea has distinguished herself not only as a nationally competitive beat reporter and gifted news feature writer, but also as an in-depth digger who worked for seven months on the investigative team to produce a three-part series on compulsive gambling.
Her verve and versatility will serve her well as she takes on coverage of the New York television establishment and the East Coast media and entertainment elite. Matea--a graduate of UCLA, where she was editor in chief of the Daily Bruin--currently is part of the Metro team covering the mayor's race. When she moves to her new assignment, she will report to assistant entertainment editor Barbara Serrano.