The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has named award-winning Catholic journalist John David Long-Garcia to oversee its newspaper operations.
Long-Garcia will serve as editor-in-chief of the Tidings Corp., with responsibility for the English-language weekly, The Tidings, and the Spanish-language monthly, Vida Nueva, and their related websites and social media channels. He will also oversee publication of the Archdiocese’s annual Catholic directory.
“This is a bright new moment for us,” said David Scott, the archdiocese’s Vice Chancellor for Communications. “J. D. Long-Garcia is probably the finest Catholic editor in the country right now. And he ‘gets’ Archbishop Gomez’s vision for the new evangelization and the role our newspapers should play through reporting, cultural analysis and fostering Catholic identity and engagement. Obviously, these are challenging times for any newspaper business. But we are confident that we are going to do great things.”
Long-Garcia has been serving as Editor of The Catholic Sun, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Phoenix, for most of the past decade.
Last fall, the Arizona Newspaper Association recognized Long-Garcia as Journalist of the Year among all non-daily newspapers in the state.
He has reported widely on the Church’s efforts abroad, including the Iraqi refugee crisis in Syria and Lebanon, drought and famine relief work in West Africa, and post-earthquake aid in Haiti.
His reporting on immigration issues from the U.S.-Mexico border and from inside Mexico has earned him multiple awards over the years.
Long-Garcia brings a bilingual and bicultural upbringing to his work. He was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the United States. He is a life-professed lay Dominican and a Knight of Columbus.
He holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, and a master’s degree in theology from the Graduate Theological Union. He has taught classes in Scripture and Church history at the Phoenix Diocese’s Kino Institute and has served as a catechist to children of various ages.
Among his more than 60 awards for excellence in editing, writing, investigative reporting, newspaper design and photography, Long-Garcia is a three-time winner of Catholic Relief Services’ Eileen Egan Award for Journalistic Excellence.
Long-Garcia takes over from David Moore, who has served as executive publisher of the Tidings Corp. since 2006. Moore has assumed a full-time position spearheading telecommunications technology and public policy issues for the archdiocese’s Catholic Communication and Collaboration (C3) Program.
