LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Times, reeling from months of staff cuts and management shake-ups, said on Thursday that one of its two managing editors, Douglas Frantz, would leave the newspaper next month.
Frantz, a former foreign correspondent named managing editor in 2005, will depart from the nation's fourth-largest daily on July 6, though he did not offer a specific explanation for his resignation, the Times reported on its Web site.
"I felt like I had done as much as I could in this job," Frantz was quoted as saying. "My true love is reporting and writing."
Frantz's impending departure comes amid a wave of staff cuts through employee buyouts following the April announcement of a planned acquisition of the paper's corporate parent, Tribune Co., by Chicago billionaire Sam Zell.
The Times' publisher, David Hiller, said two months ago the newspaper would seek to eliminate as many as 150 jobs to help offset declining circulation and advertising, a reduction that would equal 3 percent to 5 percent of its work force.
The newspaper already had been under pressure from Tribune executives to cut costs and jobs, leading to the resignation last November of former editor Dean Baquet, who had resisted further personnel reductions.
Baquet was replaced by former Chicago Tribune managing editor James O'Shea, who announced Frantz's resignation.
Frantz joined the newspaper as a business reporter in 1987 and has served for 20 months as managing editor, responsible for overseeing the paper's overall news-gathering operations in the United States and overseas.
A second managing editor, Leo Wolinsky, is primarily responsible for overseeing Page One of the newspaper.
"This is a great newspaper filled with great people," Frantz said in a statement. "I'm sure it will continue to pursue excellence in journalism. I'm sorry I won't be around."
O'Shea called Frantz "a solid leader, guiding the editorial department through some troubled and rugged days. He is an extraordinary journalist and a dedicated editor who cares deeply about the newspaper and the staff."
O'Shea said he would begin the process of choosing Frantz's replacement soon.
