Times into health care 'crisis'

Sometimes the hiring memos at the L.A. Times yield some insight into the interests an editor brings to the table. In this case, we learn that new California Editor David Lauter likes page one stories and wants more stories about health care.

Metro has the following openings that we hope to fill from within the paper's current newsroom staff. Reporters or editors who are interested in these positions should contact David Lauter, California editor, at Ext. xxxxx.

Page-One Enterprise Editor -- We're looking for an experienced, highly skilled editor who can take a group of 6-to-8 of our top writers and direct their enterprise efforts. The aim would be to produce a consistent flow of Column One pieces, other page-one stories and B-1 centerpieces. The successful candidate will be someone with a proven ability to help excellent reporters and writers produce top-flight narratives. Because these reporters will also be spending some of their time on major breaking news stories, the editor will have to be able to work cooperatively with the daily assignment desk, dive in on news as needed and juggle a broad range of challenging assignments.

Health Care reporter -- With a crumbling private hospital system, a public system in chronic crisis, one of the highest percentages of uninsured residents in the nation, a huge population of illegal residents and a welter of racial, ethnic and language groups, Southern California is a crucible for almost every health-care issue known to the country. We want to build up our coverage of these issues and are looking for an experienced, skilled reporter with a proven interest in the subject to join an expanded health-care coverage team. An ability to handle both breaking news and features will be key.

Health Care editor -- The expanded health-care team described above would also employ a full-time editor. A well-demonstrated interest in health care and related issues is a must. So, too, is an ability to take complex subject matters and make them compelling and accessible for readers. Because coverage of health care involves not just Metro, but also Business, the Washington bureau, the Health section and sometimes other departments, knowledge of at least one of those parts of the paper would be highly desirable.

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