S. Mitra Kalita, who joined the Los Angeles Times as its managing editor in March of last year, is leaving the Tribune Publishing-owned broadsheet in favor of a roost at CNN’s digital operations.
Kalita will join CNN as vice president of digital programming, part of a broader push the Time Warner-owned outlet is making into digital content. She will report to Meredith Artley, editor in chief of CNN Digital. As part of her duties, she will supervise CNN’s efforts to distribute its digital journalism across a growing number of venues – and its maneuvering to gain attention for it as well.
The move was reported previously by Politico.
“The success of our journalism rests on two important factors: how good is the story and how good is the distribution. How adaptive are we to different devices and different platforms? How accessible, relatable, intimate, authoritative?” Kalita said in a statement provided by CNN. “Technically, I will oversee the homepage, alerts, projects and planning, mobile news and off-platform partnerships and initiatives. But really, I see this job as one that collaborates across departments, time zones and mediums to maximize the reach of our journalism.”
CNN recently indicated it would invest $20 million to ramp up its abilities in web video and mobile, as well as overseas staffing, and add 200 new positions as part of the effort, while trimming more than 50 employees who work on more traditional technologies. The new workers will help CNN build out new venues for digital audiences, such as Facebook and Snapchat.
Prior to joining the Los Angeles Times, Kalita had been executive editor of Quartz. She has also worked at The Wall Street Journal, Mint and the Washington Post.
