Dawn Burkes, Amy Hubbard promoted to deputy editors on the L.A. Times Fast Break Desk
Sent on behalf of Deputy Managing Editor Shelby Grad and Assistant Managing Editor B.J. Terhune:
As The Times’ Fast Break Desk continues to expand, we are delighted to announce the promotion of two talented journalists who will help shape our coverage of a wide variety of breaking news and trending topics and further hone our strategy for delivering real-time news to our audience. These management positions will not only bring sophistication and breadth to our rapid-response operation but also facilitate our writers’ growth and professional development, coaching reporters of all experience levels on how to stretch and produce ever more ambitious work.
Dawn Burkes has been promoted to deputy editor, overseeing entertainment news coverage for Fast Break. In this expanded position, Burkes will continue to direct the team’s daily coverage, guiding the telling of surprising and engaging stories across all genres of arts and culture in real time, while also strategizing innovations for fast journalism and creative storytelling across different platforms.
Previously a temporary assistant editor with the Entertainment and Arts Department and then a full-time assistant editor with Fast Break, Burkes also has written for The Times, including a comprehensive guide to streaming services, an illuminating profile of rap star Eve’s surprising comeback on TV, a look-back piece that flexed her knowledge of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its legacy, and a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism award-winning piece about “Lovecraft Country.” She started with The Times in December 2020 on the features copy desk.
Burkes is the former editorial and publishing coordinator for Fangoria and Cinestate, and a former editor, entertainment reporter, “From the Hip” podcast host and the TV writer/critic for the Dallas Morning News. Her career includes writing and editing at American Muslim Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, the Miami Herald and the Tallahassee Democrat.
She is a graduate of Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism and Graphic Communication (formerly known as the School of Journalism, Media and Graphic Arts).
Amy Hubbard, Fast Break’s night editor, has also been promoted to deputy editor. In her new role, Hubbard will continue to direct news coverage in the latter part of the day, not only for Fast Break but across all departments, crafting and coordinating breaking news efforts and creating a playbook for the following day’s coverage plans.
Hubbard started at The Times in 1993 in the Valley/Ventura edition and has worked in a variety of editorial departments since then, including as copy chief for daily Calendar, Travel, Books and the morning news copy desk. She was SEO chief before becoming a morning editor on the Metro desk.
In 2015, she began a four-year stint at personal finance website NerdWallet, where she was the Banking editor. She returned to The Times on the morning copy desk in 2019 and spent two years as assistant editor of newsletters before joining the Fast Break Desk as an assistant editor.
Before joining The Times, Hubbard worked at the L.A. Daily News, the Herald Examiner and the Hollywood Reporter. She’s a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia Journalism School.
