By: Joe Strupp Former Los Angeles Times Editor Michael Parks is stepping down as director of the journalism program at USC's Annenberg School for Communications, he told E&P Tuesday.
Parks, 64, joined the USC journalism school in 2000 after 20 years at the Times, including the last three years as editor. He was appointed director of the journalism program in 2001.
"It has been seven and a half years, there is a new dean and he needs to form his own team," said Parks, who plans to continue as a professor at the school. "I did not want to serve another term [as director]. I did not want to be doing that into my 70s."
But Parks stressed that he wants to continue teaching. "I like our students and I think there is more I can do. I like the place, I helped build it and I would like to enjoy the position I still have."
Park's decision to step down follows the appointment of a new dean, Ernest J. Wilson, in July. He replaces former dean Geoffrey Cowan, who is on a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.
Parks said a committee has formed to recruit his replacement and plans to begin reviewing applicants within two weeks.
Parks left the Times after it was purchased by Tribune Company and in the wake of the 1999 Staples Center scandal, in which the newspaper shared revenue from a special Sunday magazine about the local arena with it's ownership, sparking complaints of ethical conflicts.
Asked to comment on the state of his former newspaper, which has undergone a sharp upheaval during the last year that has included staff cuts and the forced removal of both its editor and publisher, Parks said only, "It is a huge challenge for the Times. But it is a great opportunity to reinvent the newspaper to serve Southern California."
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