To keep your morning eyes focused on the intern’s ass and not on the longest story ever (we thinks) about incoming Los Angeles Times new publisher Jeffrey Johnson, we’ve cut down the article to just the basics.
· Johnson landed the job after John Puerner quit the post yesterday.
· Johnson is 45, married, has three sons and becomes the 11th publisher of the newspaper.
· He felt “emotional tugs going in different directions” upon Puerner’s resignation.
· He’s a huge believer in “the business of newspapers.”
· While he doesn’t officially take over until June 1, he’ll be taking on the publisher’s role immediately.
· He has a vote of confidence from the LAT‘s owner, Tribune president Scott Smith.
Though we should note Smith says Johnson has “a keen understanding of the Times’ position and future potential in this very large, diverse and competitive market” of Southern California, which makes us think he has no idea what the words “diverse” or “competitive” mean.
So really, you can forget that last item on our list; it’s meaningless – there, we said it.