LA Observed: Los Angeles media, politics and sense of place since 2003
Photos at LA Observed
LA Biz Observed • Native Intelligence • Blogs
Home • Authors • Archives • Feedback • Links • About • Contact • RSS

Email the editor
Submit for posting (guidelines)

Hewitt's ideas for the Times
Kevin Roderick • Bio • Email

Regarding talk show host Hugh Hewitt's recommendations for upending the journalism priorities at the Times as a strategy to save the paper...

 Except for the suggestion to make "opinion" writers local, I think these are fairly horrendous suggestions.

I am particularly offended at the suggestion to put the best writers on the "blog," and to just publish everything immediately. We already have blogs galore. Who needs more blogs? (No offense to this one, which is great.)

"Counting the clicks" will lead to lots of stories on Anna Nicole Smith and Van Halen. The newspaper has a public service to provide us with less glitzy material that, yes, not everyone will read. But important people WILL read it. And trust it.

Make the primary focus "the business?" Don't we have Variety for that? The "business" is covered ad nauseum everywhere else. Los Angeles is a major city with all kinds of industries other than entertainment. Ever been to the port? Kinda big, isn't it? How about all those oil rigs perched along the coast?

Anyhow, back to "blogifying" the newspaper. NO THANKS! What makes the newspaper different from an online experience is that the writing is more detailed, more nuanced, more reflective, and less "headliney." When I want to read a newspaper, I want to sit down and READ A NEWSPAPER: book section, sports section, crossword puzzle, and all. I will never read a novel online, and I will never read a newspaper online either.

Make the newspaper the way it was in the 80s. Rich, detailed, high quality. Sure, develop the online component, but not at the expense of your core product: the newspaper itself.

Scott Reardon


 I can't tell from Hugh Hewitt's bio on his web site if he's ever worked in a daily newsroom, but doesn't he realize that "five-tool reporters" would never have time for in-depth reporting or top-shelf writing if they had to file for blogs three times a day? I agree with a lot of what he says about the LAT, but this astounding naivete about what is actually involved in producing quality journalism is a serious flaw in much of the blogosphere's discussion of the future of newspapers.

Bill Walker

February 15, 2007 10:51 PM • Native Intelligence • Email the editor
 

© 2003-2008   •  About LA Observed  •  Contact the editor
LA Observed main blog
8:31 PM Thu | Lakers acquire Steve Nash from the Suns
8:08 PM Thu | Journo jumps from Daily Journal to Warren Olney
11:50 PM Wed | Protester who smacked LAPD cop sentenced to jail
11:31 PM Wed | Michael J. Ybarra, journalist was 45
10:21 AM Tue | Andy Griffith, actor was 86
LA Biz Observed
Mark Lacter funeral services
2:07 PM Sat | The funeral for Mark Lacter will be held Sunday, Nov. 24 at 12 noon at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001 W. Centinela Avenue, Los Angeles 90045. Reception to follow.
Business Guides for Companies – Effective business articles that will improve your business.
Buy TikTok Followers In 2022: The 10 Best Sites
Marketing

Buy TikTok Followers In 2022: The 10 Best Sites

Editor

Discover the best sites where you can buy TikTok followers. Social media has taken over almost all of our social lives in recent years. Everyone has a smartphone with an internet connection nowadays and therefore everyone can basically be a content creator. With the vast array of different social media platforms, there is a way…

Jenny Burman
Thursday Diary, missing LA
Before I lived in Echo Park, there was a tiny 1920s bungalow-cottage-standalone house on N. Occidental in Silver Lake. I...
Here in Malibu
Indecisive
I don't know why it's taking me so long to choose the new platform for this blog. Well, that's not...
Politics at LA Observed
SB 50: It will be a fight to remember
The Philosopher Mayor
USC's Crosstown: Saving L.A. by the numbers
Supervisor Barger worries about the homeless
Galperin's numbers fall short of telling homeless story
All posts in Politics
Media at LA Observed
Can Spectrum News 1 capture diverse L.A?
My Herald Examiner days
Goodbye, Downtown L.A.: One heck of a ride comes to an end
Jury speaks loudly in Simers v. The Los Angeles Times
A top LA Times editor says task is "daunting"
Media people • LA Times • Magazines