The life and Times of Los Angeles: A newspaper, a family, and a city

by Marshall Berges

Celebrating the centenary of the Los Angeles Times, the second-largest U.S. newspaper, Berges presents a candid story of its growth and development, along with portraits of its owners, publishers, editors and other personnel. Beginning with the pioneering days of founder Harrison Gray Otis who began the Times in a tiny printing shop, he describes how under the Chandlers it evolved from a provincial newspaper into an award-winning publication. Member of the current staff of the Times, the author describes the diverse workings of a modern newspaper and how stories and journalists are made, and conveys how staff members like Robert Scheer, book review editor Art Seidenbaum, cartoonist Paul Conrad, and columnist Jack Smith work.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[David Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A breezy look at the LA Times past and present (as of 1984), this includes the paper's notorious anti-labor stance and a few other zingers but is largely a glossy, semi-official account. (Not for nothing is Berges' previous book "Corporations and the Quality of Life.") Still, it's an easy, enjoyable read if the topic is of interest, and if you love newspapers it's a little poignant, since the Times was probably at its peak, with 1 million circulation, 500 pages on Sundays and 850 editorial employees. No one could have guessed the erosion to come.