As part of ongoing restructuring efforts by its new owner, the Los Angeles Times is refocusing its news coverage to concentrate on regional and national news, officials at the newspaper said.

The move by Tribune Co., which will be formally unveiled May 6, comes amid the downsizing of staffs at the Times’ Orange County and San Fernando Valley editions.

The change in coverage will include the addition of four pages to the newspaper’s main news “A” and “B” sections.

In Orange County, the “B” section, now called the Orange County section, will be renamed the California section. There will be a larger mix of Los Angeles and regional news on page 1, with Orange County stories inside.

“You’ll still be seeing more strong local news, but you will be seeing more regional news and more features,” said L.A. Times spokeswoman Martha Goldstein.

The newsroom staff at the Orange County edition has dwindled from 35 reporters to 21 reporters. Most of that has been through attrition and reassignment of staffers to the Times’ main newsroom in downtown L.A. over a period of several months.

Changes included the reassignment of Orange County columnist Agustin Gurza, who writes about Latino issues, to the Calendar section of the main newspaper. Richard Marosi, formerly an Orange County reporter, is now covering South Central Los Angeles.

In the Valley edition, the Business section was merged into the main news section and some reporters have also been transferred to the Times’ main newsroom. Two columnists were laid off and another two were reassigned.

The Times is one of several major newspapers across the country that has been downsizing as advertising revenues have dipped.

Ever since Tribune bought the company last year, the mandate for editor John Carroll and publisher John Puerner has been to focus more on regional and national news, as well as investigative reporting.

“I think you are seeing a pattern, given the economy of a number of city newspapers looking closely at their zoned editions,” said Loren Ghiglione, director of the journalism department at USC. “They tend to be looked upon as expensive and not necessarily profit centers in the language of the business.”