Los Angeles Times

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. With a circulation of 907,997 readers per day as of May 2005, it is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States (after The New York Times). It was formerly the owner of the KTTV television station.

History

The paper was first published as the Los Angeles Daily Times on December 4, 1881, but soon went bankrupt. The paper's printer, the Mirror Company, took over the newspaper and installed a former lieutenant colonel in the Union Army, Harrison Gray Otis, as editor. Otis made the paper a financial success and in 1884 bought out the newspaper and printing company, forming the Times-Mirror Company.

Related Topics:
December 4 - 1881 - Lieutenant colonel - Union Army - Harrison Gray Otis - 1884

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Historian Andrew Rolle called Otis "the single most important force in Los Angeles aside from government itself." Otis's editorial policy was based on civic boosterism, extolling the virtues of Los Angeles and promoting its growth. Towards those ends, the paper supported efforts to expand the city's water supply by acquiring the watershed of the Owens Valley, an effort (slightly) fictionalized in the Roman Polanski movie Chinatown which is also covered in California Water Wars. Otis was also staunchly Republican, which was reflected in the paper's editorial and news content.

Related Topics:
Boosterism - Owens Valley - Chinatown - California Water Wars - Republican

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The efforts of the Times to fight local unions led to the October 1, 1910 bombing of its headquarters and the home of Otis, killing 21 people. Two union leaders, James and Joseph McNamara, were charged with the murders. The American Federation of Labor hired noted trial attorney Clarence Darrow to represent the brothers, who eventually pleaded guilty, although supporters then (and since) believed the two men were framed. The paper soon relocated to the Times Building, a Los Angeles landmark.

Related Topics:
October 1 - 1910 - American Federation of Labor - Clarence Darrow - Times Building

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On Otis's death in 1917, his son-in-law Harry Chandler took over the reins as publisher of the Times. Harry Chandler was succeeded in 1944 by his son, Norman Chandler, who ran the paper during the rapid growth of post-war Los Angeles. Norman's wife, heiress and fellow Stanford alum Dorothy Buffum Chandler, became active in civic affairs and led the effort to build the Los Angeles Music Center, whose main concert hall was named the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in her honor.

Related Topics:
Harry Chandler - Norman Chandler - Post-war - Stanford - Dorothy Buffum Chandler - Los Angeles Music Center - Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The fourth generation of family publishers, Otis Chandler, held that position from 1960 to 1980. Otis Chandler sought legitimacy and recognition for his family's paper, often forgotten in the power centers of the Northeastern United States because of its geographic and cultural distance. He sought to remake the paper in the model of the nation's most respected newspapers, notably The New York Times and Washington Post. Believing that the newsroom was "the heartbeat of the business" (according to McDougal's biography), Otis Chandler increased the size and pay of the reporting staff, and expanded its national and international reporting. In 1962, the paper joined with the Washington Post to form the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service to syndicate articles from both papers to other news organizations around the world.

Related Topics:
Otis Chandler - Northeastern United States - The New York Times - Washington Post

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the same time, the search for approval also changed the paper's political tone. Under Otis Chandler, the paper shifted from its historic Republican political slant to the more customary liberal perspective of the New York-Washington media power center. During the 1960s, the paper won 4 Pulitzer Prizes, more than its previous nine decades combined.

Related Topics:
Republican - Liberal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The paper's early history and subsequent transformation was chronicled in a (decidedly) unauthorized history Thinking Big (1977), and was one of four organizations profiled in The Powers That Be. It has also been the subject of at least eight dissertations by social science Ph.D. students in the University of California system.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From 1957 all the way to 1987, the Times was a major sponsor to the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix of Endurance auto race held at the Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.

Related Topics:
Riverside International Raceway - Riverside, California

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Among its current staff are sports columnists Bill Plaschke and JA Adande, who are also panelists on ESPN's Around the Horn. TJ Simers also writes for the Times and used to appear on the show.

Related Topics:
Bill Plaschke - JA Adande - ESPN - Around the Horn - TJ Simers

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Kinsley was hired as "Editorial and Opinion Editor" in April 2004. In 2005, he created a stir in both the online and journalism communities when he announced the introduction of the Wikitorial, a Wiki to present editorials on the newspaper's web site. The experiment was shut down after only a few days but was the first use of a wiki by a major news organization.

Related Topics:
Michael Kinsley - Wikitorial - Wiki

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~