Jon Thurber Email & Phone Number

Recent Work

Contributed free-lance obituaries to the Washington Post as well as articles on public policy and health issues to such publications as Blueprint Magazine, the journal of UCLA’s School of Public Policy and the website for City of Hope Medical Center.

Pasadena, Calif.

Alhambra, California

Primary role is to direct membership campaigns, underwriting efforts and solicitation of foundation funding for Alhambra Source, a non-profit news and community engagement web site serving Alhambra and the western San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. Our successful membership campaigns have included a strong showingin NewsMatch, 2018, where we achieved the maximum matching funds and strong additional funding as well. In addition to membership campaign solicitations, I write… Show more Primary role is to direct membership campaigns, underwriting efforts and solicitation of foundation funding for Alhambra Source, a non-profit news and community engagement web site serving Alhambra and the western San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. Our successful membership campaigns have included a strong showingin NewsMatch, 2018, where we achieved the maximum matching funds and strong additional funding as well. In addition to membership campaign solicitations, I write position papers for high-end funders.I now also oversee the Source's editorial product, including repositioning and improving the content to give it a broader-based appeal. I assign and edit the stories and supervise the editorial staff. Our page view numbers have doubled in the last few months.. Show less

Primary role was to assign and edit entertainment news stories, analytical pieces, blog posts and film and television reviews in a fast-paced, all-digital publishing environment. Helped manage a staff of 10 writers and sub-editors. Was primary editor on Saturdays and Sundays for the weekend box office report and advance stories analyzing the relative strengths of each week’s new movie releases.--Acted as liaison with the web site’s content partners.--Served as the site’s primary… Show more Primary role was to assign and edit entertainment news stories, analytical pieces, blog posts and film and television reviews in a fast-paced, all-digital publishing environment. Helped manage a staff of 10 writers and sub-editors. Was primary editor on Saturdays and Sundays for the weekend box office report and advance stories analyzing the relative strengths of each week’s new movie releases.--Acted as liaison with the web site’s content partners.--Served as the site’s primary evening editor, assigning, editing and posting coverage of breaking news. Show less

Responsible for the paper’s coverage of books and the book publishing industry. Managed a staff of five as well as a widely fluctuating budget for staff expenses and freelance stories and reviews. Assigned and edited posts for the popular Jacket Copy blog.--Created, planned and developed special sections to generate advertising revenue. (The Holiday Books and Summer Books sections were the first new free-standing sections introduced to the Times since 2005.)--Assisted in planning… Show more Responsible for the paper’s coverage of books and the book publishing industry. Managed a staff of five as well as a widely fluctuating budget for staff expenses and freelance stories and reviews. Assigned and edited posts for the popular Jacket Copy blog.--Created, planned and developed special sections to generate advertising revenue. (The Holiday Books and Summer Books sections were the first new free-standing sections introduced to the Times since 2005.)--Assisted in planning for the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the largest such event in the country, which draws tens of thousands of people to a weekend of book discussions, panels and interviews. -- Moderated festival panels on the art of biography and on cities and their place in the national consciousness. Show less

Primary role was to oversee the daily content and production of the front page and assess the news value of stories offered for A1. Also managed a staff of senior A1 news editors.--Created and carried out overall content plans for the daily and Sunday newspaper.--Supervised the successful launch of the paper’s LatExtra section to maximize deadline options and create savings in press operations.

Named the first editor of the Times’ daily obituary coverage. Responsibilities included planning and editing the paper’s obituary coverage, assigning advance obits of prominent people, selecting photographs and ordering graphics. Supervised a staff of six and steadily built the paper’s national reputation for publishing engaging, comprehensive obituaries. In addition to broad editing duties, wrote more than 400 pieces during 11-year tenure. --Key member of the paper’s Reinvention… Show more Named the first editor of the Times’ daily obituary coverage. Responsibilities included planning and editing the paper’s obituary coverage, assigning advance obits of prominent people, selecting photographs and ordering graphics. Supervised a staff of six and steadily built the paper’s national reputation for publishing engaging, comprehensive obituaries. In addition to broad editing duties, wrote more than 400 pieces during 11-year tenure. --Key member of the paper’s Reinvention Committee, which was charged with finding opportunities to merge print and digital functions at the Times and explore ways to make the print product more nimble and accessible to changing reader tastes, habits and advertising demands. Show less

Supervised 35 page designers, news editors and copy editors tasked with producing the daily entertainment section known as Calendar and the daily feature section called Life & Style. Other responsibilities included production oversight of six popular weekly features sections -- Food, Travel and Real Estate and the Sunday Calendar, Life & Style and Book Review. -- Also edited jazz coverage for the daily and weekly Calendar sections, employing and paying freelance writers for stories… Show more Supervised 35 page designers, news editors and copy editors tasked with producing the daily entertainment section known as Calendar and the daily feature section called Life & Style. Other responsibilities included production oversight of six popular weekly features sections -- Food, Travel and Real Estate and the Sunday Calendar, Life & Style and Book Review. -- Also edited jazz coverage for the daily and weekly Calendar sections, employing and paying freelance writers for stories, reviews and trend pieces. Show less

Responsibilities included determining news value and appropriate play for stories, while designing the foreign pages inside the main news section of the Times. Worked with Times foreign correspondents on late-breaking stories. Selected photographs and ordered graphics to enhance the news package. Managed the 10-person news and copy desk. Also served regularly as executive editor for the paper’s front page.

Primary role was to edit and help assign stories for the weekly World Report section, a free-standing section of international news. Served as primary news editor for a series of special sections on major international events, such as China’s crackdown on dissent in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and the 50th anniversary of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Also assigned and edited stories by Times correspondents and freelance contributors.