John Canalis promoted to executive editor of Times Community News
Southern California newspaper veteran John Canalis has been promoted to executive editor of Times Community News, which publishes seven community titles delivered with the Los Angeles Times.
Canalis, currently the TCN editor in Orange County, also will assume responsibility for TCN in Los Angeles County on Monday. He will divide his time between the Los Angeles Times in downtown L.A. and the Orange County office in Fountain Valley.
Canalis will report to Chris Argentieri, senior vice president and general manager of the California News Group, a division of Tribune Publishing that includes The Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune and TCN.
“Placing our community news operation under one umbrella will allow us to better serve the print and digital needs of a vast and important readership,” Argentieri said. “John, who has lived in Southern California his entire life, knows the region, its people and its issues and is well-positioned for the assignment.”
The L.A.-area titles — the Glendale News Press, the Burbank Leader and the La Cañada Valley Sun — were overseen for nearly seven years by Editor Dan Evans, who is leaving Friday.
Canalis, 44, became editor of the Orange County newspapers — the Daily Pilot, the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot and the Huntington Beach Independent — in February 2010. A fourth section, Weekend, which is circulated in The Times in all of Orange County, was added to the portfolio this year.
“To be given responsibility for such a talented team of journalists — and a dedicated readership that spans from the foothills to the Orange County coastline — is an honor,” Canalis said. “I cannot think of a more interesting or diverse place to practice journalism. There are stories here you won’t find anywhere else in the world.”
Evans expressed gratitude to his staff and to the communities.
“Leaving is bittersweet,” he said. “I have grown to know and love the communities of Burbank, Glendale and La Cañada in the nearly seven years I’ve been editor. We’ve seen a lot and been through a lot, but it’s time for me to move on and see what else is out there for me.
“But my leaving is made easier knowing that John will be at the helm. His abilities, ethics and hyperlocal sensibilities mean our papers will remain and thrive as the vital and indispensable news sources they are today.”
Canalis started writing for community newspapers in college. His career has included a variety of reporting and editing roles at the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Orange County Register weeklies and The Times. He teaches journalism part time at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.
He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Cal State Long Beach and an MBA from Pepperdine.