New owners of alternative publication want fresh start
After months of speculation, the new owners of Culver City-based alternative weekly the LA Weekly were revealed in a story posted to the Weekly’s own website Friday, Dec. 1.
On the previous Wednesday, 9 out of 13 of the newspaper’s editorial staff, including editor Mara Shalhoup, were axed by “mysterious” new owners Semenal LLC, in a move Shalhoup described on social media as reminiscent of the infamous “red wedding” scene on TV’s “Game of Thrones.”
At that point, nothing was known about Semenal LLC besides the fact that it was set up to purchase the LA Weekly from previous owners Voice Media, and that ex-Orange County Register editorial director Brian Calle is in charge of editorial affairs to some degree.
At present, Calle does not have a title.
A story called “Who Owns LA Weekly?” written by freelancer Keith Plocek, appeared on the LA Weekly website soon after the cuts were announced, leading fellow alt-weekly the OC Weekly to speculate about whether this is the first time a publication has queried its own ownership in a story. Talking to the OC Weekly, Plocek said that he acted alone in posting the story.
That may have prompted Calle into action, because on Friday morning, a story appeared on the LA Weekly website called “And the New Owners Are…,” written by Calle himself.
In the article, Calle writes, “The L.A. Weekly [sic] group is made up of several investors including Brian Calle, formerly of the Southern California News Group; David Welch, an L.A.-based attorney; Kevin Xu, a philanthropist and investor; Steve Mehr, an attorney and investor; Paul Makarechian, a boutique hotel developer; Mike Mugel, a real estate redeveloper; and Andy Bequer, a Southern California–based investor. And Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley’s law school, also plans to invest.”
So now we know who owns this Culver City business and local institution. Calle also offered some explanation for the drastic cuts.
“As media marched forward into the digital age, however, print publications saw innumerable challenges and L.A. Weekly [sic] has suffered as a result,” he writes. “It wasn’t inevitable. And today, perhaps more than ever, we need media organizations, like L.A. Weekly, to become reinvigorated journalistic voices in the new media landscape. It’s disheartening that the Weekly has been on a declining trajectory. Our goal is to turn it around and see it grow.”
In response to the actions of the new owners, a funeral was held at the LA Weekly office on Sepulveda in Culver City, to lament the passing of the alt-weekly as it was. One of the organizers was Jeff Weiss who, up until last week, was a columnist at the LA Weekly. Alongside punk musician Henry Rollins, who also had a weekly column, Weiss decided not to continue writing for the publication.
“These men think you can Google how to be a journalist,” said Weiss, speaking at the protest. “You can’t Google how to be a journalist… And honestly, if they were decent men who were ultra-conservative, so be it. If they knew how to run a newspaper, as long as they showed respect to the city of Los Angeles, respect for the writers, and what the LA Weekly has built. Journalism is under attack — don’t let that get twisted for one second.”
Approximately 50 people turned out for the one-hour protest, which was peacefully executed. A coffin was placed on the sidewalk, filled with old issues of the LA Weekly.
Shortly afterwards, at 5 p.m. on Friday, a statement was posted to the LA Weekly Facebook page:
“We have made numerous missteps in the transition of new leadership at L.A. Weekly. We acknowledge it. We own it. We apologize for it. Our missteps have allowed rumor, conjecture, and misinformation to eclipse fact. False narratives have snowballed in part because we have not adequately provided our vision and plan for the Weekly’s future to the public.Our plan is straightforward: we want to sustain the L.A. Weekly [sic] and help bring its message to more people.
“Beginning today, Hillel Aron will take over as Interim Editor. Aron will be responsible for all editorial content at the Weekly. He will have complete independence and autonomy from the business side of the company. He’ll also create an Editorial Advisory Board made up of veteran progressive Angeleno journalists to ensure that the Weekly preserves its progressive voice.”
Earlier this year, New York alt-weekly the Village Voice shut down print operations to focus on the online side only. Calle states in the article that there are no intentions to do that here, but that the digital side needs to be improved.
Disclosure: Brett Callwood has written for the LA Weekly