REGIME CHANGE

I got an email from my friend Steve Appleford last week notifying me that I was a finalist for an L.A. Press Club journalism award.  Which was cool, of course, since it was the first time and all that.  It was a story Steve had assigned -- a feature on the actor Jeff Bridges -- and it ran last fall in Citybeat, an alternative weekly here in Los Angeles. 

Of course, folks with a passing interest in L.A. media  know Steve was unceremoniously ousted from his position of Big Cheese Editor of the paper about two months ago, for reasons that defy all logic, other than penny-pinching that I believe will cost parent company Southland Publishing a lot more in the long run. Apparently, they were bummed that Steve's thoughtful but unflashy editorial style wasn't turning a profit for the Southland suits. If the powers that be had bothered to even do a little bit of homework, that might have discovered that print is essentially dead in this city, judging by the bloodbaths at both the L.A. Times and Daily News. So Steve -- along with, reportedly, a big chunk of the already miniscule budget -- was sacrificed. In his place is the anti-Steve, an inexperienced manager who, judging by what's been published thus far, takes a sloppy, scorched earth approach to writing and editing. In my opinion, it's nothing more than junior high level, shock value crap. 

Presented another way, it's like the smart, meticulous kid was replaced by the ugly girl with braces who is suddenly getting attention because she's carved a swastika into her forehead. But people -- and advertisers -- may just stop paying attention when they learn that this pony only has one trick up her sleeve. 

Meanwhile, what had been a credible, and important alternative voice in L.A. has lost its heart, replaced by someone who has no real sense of L.A. readers. If Citybeat weren't the flashiest or richest paper on the street, it was comforting to know it existed. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think advertisers will stay on board when they realize the paper's voice has boiled down to the look-at-me cult or personality of its top dog. Best of luck, Southland. You've made your bed.... 

Maybe I'm just bitter. Maybe. It's true that I go way back with Citybeat's founding editorial staff. We all worked together at the L.A. Reader more than a decade ago, and I will forever consider its founding staff -- Appleford, Natalie Nichols, Andy Klein, Mick Farren -- soulmates, comrades in arms. I was only involved with Citybeat as a writer. I penned a column for two years, called Valley Boy (from which this blogged emerged), and periodically contributed after I stopped writing the column in 2005. It was never about the money. Writing for Citybeat just felt like family. It was important because it was rooted in something I really believed in when I began my career as a journalist -- allowing alternative voices to be heard.

Although I wasn't surprised, I was still a bit sad that I was instantly excised from the contributors list on the masthead.  I know these things happen all the time. New folks come in, they bring in their own people, blahblahblah. It happened to me when the Reader was put out of business in 1996 by New Times (now Village Voice Media).  I was only on the outer edges, yet I still feel a loss. Like it's the end of something I really believed in.

As for the Press Club nomination, I suppose I'm not surprised no one currently at Citybeat bothered to contact me.  It's no longer a place where relationships are cultivated and maintained. It's not a crusade or a club or a place where original voices were encouraged. It's just another business that can't see the forest for the trees.