As our city and region begin to emerge from the depths of a lingering recession, Los Angeles is poised to re-establish itself to its rightful place as the economic capital of the Pacific Rim. As a result of revitalized transportation, trade and tourism, combined with reinvigorated small-business and manufacturing growth, Angelenos have learned that our natural strengths of diversity, creativity and geography provide the foundation for a renewed period of economic growth and job creation.
But the diversity that is our greatest strength also creates a challenge for civic and community leaders who work to create the common space that all great cities must possess. Given the extremely wide range of backgrounds, interests and aspirations represented by the people of Los Angeles, it’s rare that anything other than natural disasters, traffic emergencies and sports championships brings us together around a single shared experience. Finding a way to unify such a sprawling metropolis is the essential task of a daily newspaper.
Even in a media era driven by online and cable television news and opinion, the shared voice of a community can still best be heard from the platform of a traditional news outlet. Websites, blogs and social networks should play an important complementary role in the news-gathering and dissemination process. But a daily print newspaper still maintains a unique responsibility to inform and inspire a city and its people.
Community asset
The battle for ownership of L.A.’s largest paper has continued for several months, featuring a range of regional, national and international interests. Strong criticism has been leveled against the political involvement and alleged motivations of some of those potential buyers. But overshadowed by this ideological debate is the importance of local ownership of such a critical community asset. I came to Los Angeles as a young man and have devoted the majority of my adult life to the city’s health and growth, and it is clear to me that Angelenos deserve a newspaper owned and operated by individuals who understand the complexities and the uniqueness of a city such as ours. The past several years of nonlocal ownership have resulted in a serious diminution of the quality of a once great newspaper. Responsible local ownership should facilitate a return to that necessary high level of journalism for which the Los Angeles Times is known.
To date, most of the voices engaged in the public discussion over the Times’ future come from the labor, environmental protection and government reform movements. They are to be commended for their involvement in this conversation. But it is equally critical for the job creators of Los Angeles, the city’s business and investment leaders, to stand up on behalf of local ownership of our largest newspaper. We know that Southern California’s recovery is still in a tenuous and fragile stage, and that our future successes no longer rely on one single monolith like the entertainment and aerospace industries. Rather, our growth and prosperity will be built on an intricate mosaic of small-business startups and technology incubators, of the movement and transport of goods and human capital, on expanded tourism, on the resurrection of traditional job sectors and the recruitment of new talent and innovation. Navigating these waters is a task best accomplished by those who possess a deep understanding of our city and its people, of our past successes and failures.
The audience for this city’s next great newspaper will not just be in Torrance, Sylmar and Santa Monica, but in Beijing; Seoul, South Korea; and New Delhi as well. The paper’s international readership will require a knowledge and familiarity of Southern California of the type of breadth and depth that can be acquired not in weeks or months, but over the course of decades, lifetimes and generations. Those who have committed themselves to L.A.’s economic and cultural growth must recognize the importance of the Times’ owners having longtime roots in this region.
The owners of the newspaper should be men and women who are familiar not just with our main streets but our alleyways, not just with Staples Center and L.A. Live, but with the small bodegas, food carts, street fairs and neighborhood councils that give Los Angeles its fabric and future. I commend anyone who is willing to take on the challenge of leading our civic discussion. But I know that Los Angeles will benefit most from newspaper owners with a lifelong commitment to our community and its people.
Alan Rothenberg is founder and chairman of 1st Century Bank in Century City and chairman of Premier Partnerships, a Santa Monica sports and entertainment consulting company. He is chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
