As the new editor of Los Angeles magazine, Spencer Beck is promising a more provocative and sophisticated approach and no, he says, it won’t just be a softer version of the present publication.

“We will continue to publish city news and hard news stories,” Beck said last week.

Beck, 36, replaces Michael Caruso, who was dismissed in March after Walt Disney Co., owner of Fairchild Publications, decided to put Los Angeles magazine under the Fairchild umbrella.

There has been speculation that the monthly will focus more on lifestyle features than edgy stories speculation that Beck hopes to curb. But at the same time, he says he wants to make the magazine more stylish.

“I plan on giving it a fresh new look,” he said in a phone interview from his office at Fairchild Publications in New York.

For the past year, Beck had served as the features editor of W magazine. Before joining Fairchild, Beck was executive editor of Connoisseur, managing editor of Fame and associate editor of Interview magazines.

Beck has also authored several books, including “Uncommon Grace: Photographs and Reminiscences of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis,” “Hollywood Lovers” and “Hollywood Kids.”

Beck also was the editor of “The Variety Book of Movie Lists” and “The Variety History of Show Business.”

If there’s time, Beck would like to write for the magazine while serving as editor. “I am a big fan of personality-driven stories,” he said.

He hopes to be in Los Angeles by June 1. “Distance is imaginary with fax and phones, I can work from here pretty easily, although it will be nicer to be in Los Angeles,” he said.

“There is such a connection between Los Angeles and New York and I have covered so much that came out of Los Angeles that I’m not all that concerned with preparing myself for the move,” he said. He said his biggest concern is finding a place to live.

Julie Sable