Ashley Dunn becomes LA Times’ California editor — the appointment that produced the ‘we give ulcers’ memo

By Jordan Vega · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer (2011) · Wayback archive →

In late March 2011 LA Times editor Russ Stanton named Ashley Dunn the paper’s new California editor, replacing David Lauter — who had moved to become Tribune Company’s Washington bureau chief. Four months later Dunn would be the editor sending the “we don’t get ulcers, we give ulcers” memo to a layoff-shocked Metro desk.

Then

Dunn was a 17-year LA Times veteran when he took the California editor seat. His résumé included a New York Times stint in the 1990s. The promotion put him in charge of the section covering city government, schools, public safety, and statewide news.

Now

Ashley Dunn ran the California editor’s chair through some of the LA Times’ worst contraction years. The July 2011 layoff round produced the memo that became one of the documented artifacts of how working editors held newsrooms together across the post-bankruptcy decade. David Lauter continued at the paper. Russ Stanton himself was succeeded as LA Times editor in late 2011.

More from the FishbowlLA archive

• Jon Thurber retires, the LA Times books editor search begins — May 2012
• John Montorio’s 2008 LA Times exit — and what Russ Stanton’s first weeks signaled
• Terry McGarry dies at 72 — and the long-tenured editor class the LA Times no longer produces