Effective immediately, veteran journalist Hector Becerra has been named managing editor of the Los Angeles Times.
His promotion makes him the highest-ranking Latino editor in the paper’s history.
A native Angeleno, Becerra joined the LAT nearly 25 years ago. He started working for the Orange County edition, before moving to the paper’s main newsroom in downtown LA as a general assignment reporter for over a decade.
Becerra was part of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning team that exposed a corruption scandal in the city of Bell. He led the California section as city editor from 2017 until 2022, when he was promoted to deputy managing editor, overseeing Metro and California, the paper’s largest staffs.
His appointment came a week after a one-day strike and the LAT laid off at least 115 people, more than 20% of its newsroom, in one of its biggest cuts ever.
According to the LAT, interim executive editor Terry Tang announced Becerra’s promotion Tuesday.