Leo Wolinsky was brought in after several rounds of layoffs at the trade, and now he was pushed out after less than a year in the job. Before coming to Variety, Wolinsky had spent many years in senior level roles at the Los Angeles Times. But, as I wrote back on December 8th, why in the world would that newspaper’s errand boy be named editor of Daily Variety (both the LA and NY editions) because the guy knew nothing about the entertainment biz. I registered  surprise at what a bad choice this is. He was long considered a joke at the LA Times and infamous for secretly helping wrangle billionaire potential local backers like Eli Broad, Ron Burkle, Richard Riordan, and David Geffen when then bigwig editors were fighting with Tribune Co. (Finke/LA Weekly: Baquet’s Billionaire Boys Club). He briefly sat atop the LA Times‘ entertainment and feature sections as a seat-filler until he was let go. Nevertheless, Wolinsky was made responsible for all Variety editorial content for the print edition and began January 2010 reporting to Variety Group editor Tim Gray. Meanwhile, Variety is sending out for an LA Press Club panel about the trades some junior box office reporter who was an intern until recently. Also an article in the Los Angeles Times about show business news coverage barely even mentioned Variety which is now behind a pay wall. Out of sight, out of mind?

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.