Ellina Abovian — the on-air reporter laid off in February amidst a round of corporate restructuring at KTLA — has landed a new gig. Emmy-nominated Abovian has been named editor-in-chief of digital content at Los Angeles Magazine.
Following her dramatic exit from KTLA which happened on the same day she turned 40, (revealing on a podcast, “I’m in shock, I’m in disbelief. I’m just like, ‘no, this can’t be it'”), Abovian announced her new job to her 68,000 followers on Instagram. She said she would be the “new face” of the 65-year-old magazine, which was the first city magazine in America and has published works by everyone from Pulitzer winning sportswriter Jim Murray to legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. Abovian joins Jasmin Rosemberg atop a masthead that has seen significant turnover since criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas acquired Los Angeles in 2022 for a reported $6 million.
In its first 60 years, Los Angeles had nine editors; in just the last four years there have been at least three. Maer Roshan was running Los Angeles when Geragos acquired the mag, but was fired several months later over editorial differences
(Roshan is now editor-in-chief of The Hollywood Reporter. Disclosure: I worked with Roshan at both Los Angeles and The Hollywood Reporter). In 2023 Geragos sued the Los Angeles Times for defamation over the newspaper’s coverage of a $17.5 million settlement for Armenian genocide insurance cases. (Geragos ultimately lost that suit and was ordered to pay over $200K in fees).
In 2022, Geragos hired veteran music journalist Shirley Halperin who left a year later amidst reports that the magazine failed to pay freelancers and vendors. Rosemberg now has the title of editor. In 2023 the Armenian National Committee of America gave Abovian a media excellence award for her coverage of the plight of the Armenian community.
