Scott Kraft named L.A. Times deputy managing editor

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A memo to the newsroom from Editor Davan Maharaj and Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin:

We’re pleased to announce that Scott Kraft will become a deputy managing editor overseeing the front page, Column One and projects.

Scott’s experience and skills make him a natural choice for this assignment. He will ensure that the Los Angeles Times remains committed to elegant storytelling, powerful investigations and distinctive journalism.

He joined The Times as a national correspondent in Chicago and went on to serve as a bureau chief in Nairobi, Johannesburg and Paris. He covered the end of apartheid, the ill-fated U.S. military mission in Somalia and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, among other major stories. His piece for the Los Angeles Times magazine on the AIDS epidemic in Africa won the SPJ Distinguished Service Award for Foreign Correspondence.

Scott was known then, as now, as a writer with an affinity for words and storytelling. Of his 1,100 bylines in the Times over the years, more than 120 were Column Ones.

After a decade abroad, Scott moved to Los Angeles and became deputy foreign editor. A year later, he was named National Editor. During his 11 years overseeing our national correspondents and the Washington bureau, he directed coverage of many major stories, including 9/11, the Clinton impeachment, the 2000 Florida recount and Hurricane Katrina. Reporters on the National staff won four Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure.

Scott returned to writing in 2008 and helped anchor our coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. He became the Page One editor last year and has served with distinction in that role, helping to elevate story-telling and encouraging creativity and risk-taking in the selection and presentation of stories.

In his new position, Scott will report to the managing editor.