New LA Times Editor Jim Kirk vows 'fresh start' to unify newsroom after turmoil

LOS ANGELES - Jim Kirk, the Los Angeles Times' newly installed editor in chief, on Monday sought to soothe a newsroom roiled by months of turmoil - a unionization campaign by staff members, distrust about the motives of corporate leaders and a revolving door in management.

Kirk flew into Los Angeles on Monday morning, 24 hours after accepting the top editorial job at the Times in the latest management shake-up. Then, in a late afternoon staff meeting, the new boss took questions for nearly 50 minutes, standing in front of the darkened glass-walled office that his predecessor, Lewis D'Vorkin, had occupied for just three months.

"I want