Media and media people

News, observations, opinions and links

Can Spectrum News 1 capture diverse L.A?

Bill Boyarsky | December 4, 2019 1:14 PM

I drove into the Spectrum News 1 headquarters parking lot Monday, a day after the cable news channel had won four Los Angeles Press Club awards for its coverage of local news. It was a notable accomplishment for a journalistic operation that been in the crowded L.A. media scene for just over a year.

My Herald Examiner days

Joel Bellman | November 2, 2019 2:22 PM

As alumni of the Herald gather today 30 years later, Joel Bellman remembers the day the paper shut down.

Goodbye, Downtown L.A.: One heck of a ride comes to an end

Visiting Blogger | September 9, 2019 11:25 AM

Jon Regardie's final column for the LA Downtown News if he had been allowed to run it.

Jury speaks loudly in Simers v. The Los Angeles Times

Ellen Alperstein | August 19, 2019 7:27 PM

Ellen Alperstein: After six years and two trials, the jury delivers a jaw-dropping verdict in former sports columnist T.J. Simers' lawsuit against the Los Angeles Times.

A top LA Times editor says task is "daunting"

Bill Boyarsky | August 12, 2019 2:57 PM

One of the most interesting moments in Sewell Chan's talk to Los Angeles Times alums was prompted by a question from Bob Rawitch, a retired Times editor who had been responsible for suburban news coverage.

Walking through 4,000 photographs with Annie Leibovitz

Iris Schneider | February 20, 2019 11:23 PM

A "river" of the photographer's work, starting with the early Rolling Stone years, is on view at Hauser & Wirth in the Arts District.

Read the memo: LA Times hires again

Kevin Roderick | February 11, 2019 11:31 PM

Plus: A new LA Times show debuts on Spectrum News 1 and LA Observed drops in to the station to talk about the state of local news media.

Olde-time L.A. journalism

Visiting Blogger | February 3, 2019 11:22 PM

Susan La Tempa: The free-wheeling, deeply divisive newspapers of L.A.'s early days.

Rorschach and Rashomon on the Washington Mall

Joel Bellman | January 27, 2019 10:59 PM

Joel Bellman: The recent media blowup over the Covington Catholic kids and the tribal drummer at the Lincoln Memorial may have been too much ado, but it was about something.

Read the memo: LA Times losing big on search traffic

Kevin Roderick | January 8, 2019 11:50 PM

The Times also named the editor who will oversee presidential campaign coverage and hired LZ Granderson, formerly of ESPN, as a hybrid sports and culture columnist.

Joe Frank, somewhere out there

Joel Bellman | November 29, 2018 6:09 PM

A documentary on the late KCRW radio storyteller premieres at this weekend's New Filmmakers Los Angeles DocuSlate program in DTLA.

Gustavo Arellano, many others join LA Times staff

Kevin Roderick | November 19, 2018 1:13 PM

Read the memos: A new foreign editor, columnist and replacements for the late Jonathan Gold are among the positions in the latest roundup. Also an abrupt exit from the Times masthead and an updated lineup for the senior editor group.

Here's who the LA Times has newly hired*

Kevin Roderick | October 22, 2018 12:50 AM

Included are the return of Sue Horton as op-ed editor and an East Coaster billed as part of the replacement for the late food writer Jonathan Gold.

LA Observed Notes: Clippers hire big-time writer, unfunny Emmys, editor memo at the Times and more

Kevin Roderick | September 18, 2018 12:45 AM

Also: The Galaxy's undocumented player, media moves, selected tweets and Big Jay McNeely dies.

New seasons of SoCal Connected, Lost LA on KCET

Kevin Roderick | September 10, 2018 10:52 PM

"SoCal Connected" returns Oct. 9 with a new focus on long-form investigative documentary pieces, starting with the LA Times and other local newsrooms in transition.

LA Observed Notes: Media notes, homeless ruling, scooters and lion cubs

Kevin Roderick | September 5, 2018 12:53 AM

Cities again barred from prosecuting the homeless. Hands across the aisle at USC. Much more.

LA Observed Notes: Times hiring binge, LA Weekly investor sues, media tidbits

Kevin Roderick | August 28, 2018 1:43 AM

The Times' most interesting new hire. An LA correspondent gives his farewell observations. Media moves and more.

LA Observed Notes: Editor moves, NYT steps on JGold turf, jobs and more

Kevin Roderick | August 14, 2018 12:57 AM

KCET debuts "SoCal Wanderer" with Rosey Alvero. The Wall Street Journal gets a new bureau chief. Plus other moves in local media.

Jonathan Gold, LA's preeminent food writer, has died at 57

Kevin Roderick | July 22, 2018 6:30 AM

The restaurant critic, cultural anthropologist and voice of Los Angeles found out this month that he had pancreatic cancer.

New LA Times editor Pearlstine picks his deputies

Kevin Roderick | July 9, 2018 10:01 PM

Read the memo: Big promotion for business editor Kimi Yoshino, plus a new managing editor.

LA Observed Notes: Long Beach, LAist, Soon-Shiong and much more

Kevin Roderick | June 25, 2018 1:40 AM

Also: Press Club awards. The Athletic swarms Los Angeles. Moves by Jackie Johnson and David Poland. Selected tweets.

Norman Pearlstine named executive editor of the Los Angeles Times

Kevin Roderick | June 18, 2018 12:15 PM

The journalism veteran has run Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal. He's been quietly getting to know the LAT staff as advisor to Patrick Soon-Shiong.

Soon-Shiong to staff: 'In awe of your talent'

Kevin Roderick | June 18, 2018 8:45 AM

"California — and the West — is where the world comes to see its future," the new owner of the Los Angeles Times says to his staff.

LA Observed Notes: Soon-Shiong era at LA Times begins

Kevin Roderick | June 17, 2018 11:45 PM

Staffers toast the end of Tronc in LA and a new start with an owner who seems to care. "Fake news is the cancer of our times," Soon-Shiong says.

LA Observed Notes: Bourdain's LA, Villaraigosa fades to black

Kevin Roderick | June 11, 2018 1:26 AM

Murray Fromson obits, the new police chief, slow-walking the LAT sale, media notes, selected tweets and more.

Murray Fromson, a fighter to the end

Bill Boyarsky | June 9, 2018 4:31 PM

Long after he left journalism, Murray Fromson never lost the curiosity, story telling ability and intensity that made him a top CBS television correspondent during the Vietnam War and in the domestic fight for civil rights. Fromson, 88, died Saturday.