In his first interview since abruptly leaving the Los Angeles Times in January, former executive editor Kevin Merida said “disagreements” with owner Patrick Soon-Shiong led to his exit from the paper.
Merida’s comment came during a one-on-one interview with Oliver Darcy of Status News at TheWrap’s annual Grill conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Two major job cuts — one in June 2023 that eliminated 74 newsroom positions, and another 115 layoffs in January 2024 — were a driving factor in Merida’s decision, he said. Merida resigned two weeks before the January 2024 layoffs were announced.
“I came there to try to transform the place.