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LA Observed is an award-winning website devoted to independent reporting, informed commentary and selective linkage on the Los Angeles region and the news media. The site went live in May 2003 and is read daily by an elite audience of journalists, executives, government officials, politicians, authors, bloggers and others interested in the public life of Los Angeles. Below are answers to some questions about the site. If yours isn't answered, please email the editor.
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Kevin Roderick is the founder, editor and publisher. He also writes the blog on the LA Observed home page. For more, look here.
Los Angeles and Southern California media, news, politics, business, culture, books and life are the main subjects. Like a good print magazine, the topics can range widely. History, architecture, Hollywood, travel, driving, neighborhoods, urban culture, style, sports and the natural environment all come up.
LA Observed content is organized into nine blogs. We're happy to be called a blog, news site, web magazine, online journal — any label you prefer. Much of what we do is clearly journalism, some of it practiced by award-winning journalists, some by writers who would not call themselves journalists. We see the blog form serving a growing role as other providers of news and commentary shrink in size and importance. And we're pleased that readers value LA Observed for accurate, honest and independent reporting and commentary — and for our observations and opinions on topics as varied as the mayor, the Dodgers and the best route to the Valley.
Kevin Roderick writes the main blog. More than a dozen Los Angeles authors, journalists, writers, critics and observers of the city post their insights elsewhere on the site. They have best-selling books to their name and have written for Vanity Fair, Esquire, Los Angeles, Spy, New York, Forbes, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Audobon, Village Voice, Buzz, Black Clock, Variety and Television Week, the New York Times, Washington Post, New York Observer and most of the larger Los Angeles newspapers and weeklies. Their online credits include Slate, Salon, the Huffington Post, Truthdig and other websites. For details or contact information, see the contributors page.
People with a passion for news, insight and information about Los Angeles — journalists, media pros, studio executives, elected officials and their staffs, bloggers, authors, ex-patriates. LA Observed is read daily in the mayor's suite, the editor's offices at the Los Angeles Times, at publishing houses in New York and in newsrooms all around the country.
LA Observed has been mentioned in the New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, New York Observer, Los Angeles Daily News, L.A. Business Journal, LA Weekly, CityBeat, Los Angeles Independent, Studio City Sun, Downtown News, San Jose Mercury and Sacramento Bee. Online, the site has been cited by major news websites, Romenesko, BoingBoing, Opinion Journal, Instapundit, Gawker, Slate, Salon, Defamer, Deadline Hollywood Daily, Talking Points Memo, Kausfiles, Andrew Sullivan, Hugh Hewitt, The Huffington Post, I Want Media, Mediabistro, Editor & Publisher, National Review Online, Washington Monthly, Cyberjournalist, LAist, Fishbowl LA, Hit & Run, The Roundup, National Journal's Hotline and the Online Journalism Review — among many others.
Forbes magazine named LA Observed a Best of the Web media blog. NewsBank chose LA Observed as the first blog in the country to be included in its research databases for libraries and academic research institutions. Kevin has also won a Golden Mike for his weekly LA Observed commentaries on KCRW-FM. As a rule, LA Observed does not enter local journalism contests.
Our attitude might be a tad subtle for some tastes, but readers tell us they like that LA Observed respects the intelligence and sophistication of visitors to the site. We think the blogosphere is big enough for all manner of personalities and writing styles — in fact, we think that diversity of voices and attitudes is necessary for blogs to become a larger cultural force. LA Observed is edited to inform and occasionally entertain, not to advocate, anger or persuade. If posts provoke discussion that's great, but we're satisfied to be regarded as informative, useful and trustworthy.
Several items are typically posted every day, except on some weekends and holidays.
No. We won't believe any other website that claims it does. Four million people live in Los Angeles, at the center of a region inhabited by more than fifteen million. A lot happens out there, only some of which ever gets reported by the hundreds of reporters who work this city. LA Observed feels a bit outnumbered — but flattered to be asked.
We pick our spots, with a native's skepticism and a journalist's bias toward revelations that illuminate what is really going on. We assume that LAO readers need no introduction to most of the players in local media, culture and politics, and want to be pointed toward the relevant angles of news developments. We think we cover a lot, with fairness and authority, but we are always looking to improve.
Posts can be based on original reporting, tips from our wide array of trustworthy sources or reports in other media. Whenever possible, links are provided to the relevant media. Suggestions and news tips are encouraged, and will only be used if the editor finds them credible and newsworthy.
We hear a lot of media and politics gossip — and encourage more — but in the end relatively little gets into our posts. For us to treat pure gossip as blogworthy, we need to believe it could be true and have a good reason to publish it. We try to make clear when a post is based on gossip or speculation.
We know intimately the advantages and pitfalls of using unattributed information. Many LA Observed posts begin as tips from Los Angeles media and politics insiders who are known to us, but who wish to remain on background. The editor tries to assess the motives of sources and the accuracy of the information before posting. We take our reputation for accuracy and credibility very seriously — as a result, most tips go unused.
We take promises of confidentiality very seriously. The editor will take all legal steps available to guard the identity of sources, and has a 25-year record of protecting sources. That said, sources and email correspondents who intentionally mislead forfeit protection and their communications will be considered on the record.
Errors are infrequent and regrettable, but they do happen. We correct errors of fact swiftly and transparently. Typos, misspellings and bad line breaks are fixed as soon as we catch them. More substantial mistakes will often be flagged so that readers will know a change has been made. Anyone who spots a mistake is encouraged to email the editor.
That indicates the entry has been significantly updated. The ability to refine and add to a post as new information comes in is a great benefit of the web over print, TV and radio. Many readers who come back to LA Observed through the day find this feature helpful. In the first minutes after a post goes up, we may reword for clarity, accuracy or to fix an errant line break without adding the asterisk.
What day is it? News rules. The editor chooses not to treat political coverage as a morality play between good and bad or to regard most elections as a contest of ideas (though enjoys it when they surprise and rise to the occasion.) The prevailing view here is that elections and holding office are exercises mostly of strategy, tactics, media manipulation, voter persuasion, personnel management and execution — the way the pros see it. We report negative things about people we like, positive things about people we don't and vice-versa. It depends on the news. If we post something you don't like, stick around. The next item might go your way.
Contributors to Native Intelligence and the other blogs are free to express whatever political opinions they hold. None were invited to contribute based on their politics, but those whose biases are known to the editor lean left.
The Times remains the dominant — and on many days the best — source of original reporting in the region. Most newsrooms and political offices in Los Angeles begin their morning with the Times, right after LA Observed. The Times is also the largest local employer of journalists, and one role of LA Observed is to inform media types what their friends, colleagues and rivals are doing.
On some days, it's the best source of original reporting on Los Angeles. The New York Times reports on Southern California more intensively and knowledgeably than any non-Los Angeles media source, and strongly influences other national media. It also remains the best overall newspaper in the country, in the editor's opinion.
Not really. We observe the city and its media, and will critique a story or coverage when it's warranted.
In the first sixteen months of the site's existence, more than 8,000 comments were posted by readers. They remain viewable in the archives. Posting of new comments was turned off in August 2004 due to the workload of keeping up with commercial and political spammers. So many readers expressed relief at the cleaner tone of the site that comments have remained closed. Feedback from readers is often incorporated into posts, and thoughtful signed email is posted at the Feedback page.
We assume that LAO readers are serious media consumers who have made their peace with the registration obstacles at leading news sites. If we link to a new site with an exotic requirement, we try to let people know before they click.
Technologically speaking, LA Observed is published using Movable Type software and is hosted at Total Choice Hosting. RSS feeds are available in all major formats. Content is licensed by Newsbank and indexed by Google, Yahoo, Technorati and all major search engines. Every post since day one remains accessible through the LA Observed archives.
Mostly you just have to ask. If your blog is regularly updated and the editor thinks it would inform or amuse LA Observed readers, he'll link to it. If it's racist, offensive or in his sole opinion isn't worth the electrons used to publish it, he won't.
Like many leading blogs, LA Observed disabled the trackback function because of spammer abuse.
No! What you may have received is an email that "spoofed" a return address from LA Observed. It is fake. We don't send email with attachments. If you receive one, delete it without opening.
Email is the best way to send a news tip, compliment or complaint: editor@laobserved.com. We also have a mailing address for books, magazines and other business that can't fit through the email slot:
LA Observed
11664 National Blvd. #106
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Indeed. Please visit this page.
