Los Angeles Times
From Ballotpedia
The Los Angeles Times (also known as the LA Times) is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the third-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States.[1]
Founded in 1881, the Times has won 37 Pulitzer Prizes through 2004; this includes four in editorial cartooning, and one each in spot news reporting for the 1965 Watts Riots and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. In 2004, the paper won five prizes, which was the second-most by any paper in one year (the first was The New York Times in 2002).
Robert Green, a member of the Los Angeles Times editorial board, penned an essay in February 2008 commenting with some concern on how ballot measure advocates use editorial endorsements from the newspapers in their advertising.[2]
Contents |
Editorial positions on California ballot propositions
February 2008
| Proposition | Description | LA Times editorial position | Status of proposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| California Proposition 91 (2008) | Transportation funding | - | Defeated |
| California Proposition 92 (2008) | Community College funding | - | Defeated |
| California Proposition 93 (2008) | Alter term limits | | Defeated |
| California Proposition 94 (2008) | Tribal Gaming Compacts | | Approved |
| California Proposition 95 (2008) | Tribal Gaming Compacts | | Approved |
| California Proposition 96 (2008) | Tribal Gaming Compacts | | Approved |
| California Proposition 97 (2008) | Tribal Gaming Compacts | | Approved |
Controversies
The credibility of the Times suffered greatly when it was revealed in 1999 that a revenue-sharing arrangement was in place between the Times and Staples Center in the preparation of a 168-page magazine about the opening of the sports arena. The magazine's editors and writers were not informed of the agreement, which breached the "Chinese wall" that traditionally has separated advertising from journalistic functions at American newspapers. Publisher Mark Willes also had not prevented advertisers from pressuring reporters in other sections of the newspaper to write stories favorable to their point of view.[3]
On March 22, 2007, editorial page editor Andrés Martinez resigned following an alleged scandal centering around his girlfriend's professional relationship with a Hollywood producer who had been tapped to guest edit a section in the newspaper.[4] In an open letter penned upon leaving the paper, Grazer blasted the publication for allowing the Chinese Wall between the news and editorial departments to be weakened, accusing news staffers of lobbying the opinion desk.[5]
References
General references
- Edward Maddin Ainsworth, History of Los Angeles Times, ca. 1940.
- Robert Gottlieb, Thinking Big, New York: Putnam, 1977.
- David Halberstam, The Powers That Be, New York: Knopf, 1979.
- Jack R. Hart, The information empire: The rise of the Los Angeles Times and the Times Mirror Corporation, Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1981.
Specific references
- ↑ According to the 2007 World Almanac
- ↑ Whose blurb is it anyway
- ↑ http://www.salon.com/media/log/1999/11/05/media/<ref> Michael Kinsley was hired as the Opinion and Editorial (Op-Ed) Editor in April 2004 to help improve the quality of the opinion pieces. His role was controversial, as he forced writers to take a more decisive stance on issues. In 2005, he created a Wikitorial, the first Wiki by a major news organization. Although it failed, readers could combine forces to produce their own editorial pieces. He resigned later that year. On November 12, 2005, new Op-Ed Editor Andrés Martinez shook things up by announcing the firing of leftist op-ed columnist Robert Scheer and conservative editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez, replacing the two with a more diversified lineup of regular columnists. The change was not well-received by liberal readers, many of whom accused the newspaper of trying to silence liberal voices and remove controversial writers. Following the GOP's defeat in the 06 mid-term Elections, an Opinion piece published on November 19, 2006 by Joshua Muravchik, a resident scholar at the right-wing [[American Enterprise Institute]], titled BOMB IRAN shocked readers, including over a million Iranian Americans of California, with its hawkish overtures in support of more unilateral action by the United States, this time against Iran.<ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-muravchik19nov19,0,1681154.story?coll=la-opinion-center</li> <li id="cite_note-3">[[#cite_ref-3|↑]] http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-andres23mar23,0,6732948</li> <li id="cite_note-4">[[#cite_ref-4|↑]] http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2007/03/grazergate_the_.html</li></ol></ref>
External links
- Official website
- Tribune Company
- Los Angeles Times Travel
- Los Angeles Times photonegative archive. Department of Special Collection. Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA
Parts of this article were taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
