The Dirty Politics That Saved the Santa Monica Mountains

Grassroots Organizing, Race, Nepotism and, Yes, Environmentalism, Collided in a Colorful 1971 L.A. Election

At the time, it seemed just another political dirty trick—a phony newspaper mailed to residents of the San Fernando Valley. But that newspaper, called the Record, turned out to have a longer-lasting impact. Unremembered today, it played a small, colorful part in one of Los Angeles’ greatest environmental fights: saving the Santa Monica Mountains from subdivision developers.

In spring 1971, much of the mountains had been zoned for subdivisions by the developer-friendly Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Sam Yorty. The Los County Board of Supervisors did the same with the …

by Bill Boyarsky | May 27, 2014

‘L.A. Times’ Columnist Sandy Banks

Proud to Be a Valley Girl and OK With Being Alone

May 6, 2014

During 34 years at the Los Angeles Times, Sandy Banks has been a reporter, editor, columnist, editorial writer, and director of the newspaper’s internship program. Before participating in a panel …

‘Los Angeles Times’ Reporter Kurt Streeter

Constantly Dreaming of Wimbledon

March 17, 2014

Kurt Streeter is a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where has been a feature writer, covered transportation and crime, written a column for the sports section, and currently covers …

Your Local L.A. Newspaper Feels Your Pain

On Keeping Your Ears Open to the Concerns of ‘Regular People,’ Giving the Customers More, and a Newspaper’s Civic Duty

by Sarah Rothbard | March 11, 2014

The early 21st century has not been kind to newspapers in Southern California. But in an era of technological change and in a city of great demographic change, what kind …

The News is Dead in L.A. Long Live the News.

If Mainstream News in Los Angeles Is Burning, What Should Rise from the Ashes?

March 7, 2014

Shriveling advertising revenue, circulation death spirals, rounds of layoffs, bankruptcies—it’s hard to read a story about the newspaper industry in Southern California these days that isn’t a dirge of doom …

Is L.A. News Black and White and Dead All Over?

The Path to Reinventing News in Southern California Is Littered with the Bodies of Good Ideas

by Leo C. Wolinsky | March 6, 2014

The idea had success written all over it.

In 2011, news organizations throughout Southern California were shedding reporters and cutting coverage in the face of faltering finances. Sensing an opportunity to …

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