Times Managing Editor Hector Becerra
To Speak to OFS on April 4
By Bob Rawitch
Hector Becerra
Times Managing Editor Hector Becerra, a 25-year veteran who joined the paper at the tail end of its golden era and has survived through the recent tough years, will speak to the OFS on Zoom at noon on April 4.
Becerra started with the paper as a reporter in 1999, and was a part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2011 for their coverage of the City of Bell corruption scandal.
He was City Editor for the California Section from 2014 to 2022, when he was promoted to Deputy Managing Editor. He was named Managing Editor by Executive Editor Terry Tang shortly after she took her position in early 2024.
Becerra has overseen the news operation during the very difficult recent years that included the effects of the COVID pandemic, when virtually no one worked out of the El Segundo offices; layoffs of 20% of the newsroom in early 2024; and the effects of the 2018 formation of a union by editorial employees that significantly changed the relationship between the staff and management.
The news guild unit has worked without a contract for three years, during which editorial employees have received no raises. Times President Chris Argentiere recently ordered the staff to return to the newsroom Mondays to Thursdays, effective April 21. The union has in the past resisted such orders, asserting they must be a part of the negotiation process.
OFS members who wish to participate in the April 4 Zoom call should email bob@rawitchconsulting.com. They will receive a link a day or two before.
Editor Tang has agreed to speak to the OFS at noon May 7, so mark your calendars.