{"id":853,"date":"2023-06-11T23:02:42","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T23:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/remake\/?p=853"},"modified":"2023-08-20T19:46:35","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T19:46:35","slug":"got-it-covered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/remake\/got-it-covered\/","title":{"rendered":"Got It Covered"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

Russian Trolls Taking Over\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>LA Weekly?\u00a0Really?<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Paul Birchall<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][image_with_animation image_url=”856″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”][vc_column_text]In news that has already convulsed the precarious Los Angeles cultural journalism scene, a massive putsch has taken place at the\u00a0LA Weekly<\/em>, where, as of Wednesday, 9 of 13 staff editors and all but one staff writer have been summarily laid off, shortly after putting the paper to bed on Tuesday night. News of the firings started leaking Wednesday morning, via various\u00a0Weekly<\/em>\u00a0journalists\u2019 Facebook and Twitter feeds, with coverage in the\u00a0LA Times<\/em>\u00a0and LAIst starting shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n

The LA Times article quotes former\u00a0LA Weekly<\/em>\u00a0editor Mara Shalhoup as saying, in a\u00a0tweetstream, \u201c<\/a>To have such deep, devastating cuts \u2013 it\u2019s beyond anything we could ever have fathomed.\u201d In the\u00a0Hollywood Reporter<\/em>\u00a0piece discussing the same story, Shalhoup notes, \u201cWe were expecting there to be some pain with the sale of\u00a0LA Weekly<\/em>. But we weren\u2019t expecting\u00a0The Red Wedding<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

A month ago, the story broke that the\u00a0Weekly<\/em>\u2019s previous owners, Village Media, had sold the paper to a mysterious conglomerate called Semanal Media, which (as,\u00a0The\u00a0L.A. Times<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reported), quoting the mergers and acquisition firm that handled the deal, \u201cwas formed solely for the purpose of the transaction.\u201d The spokesperson, at the time, (according to another report in\u00a0The Wrap<\/a><\/em>) declined to say at the time where the company is based, or who owns it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only name initially mentioned in connection with the new regime was Brian Calle, whom\u00a0The Wrap<\/em>\u00a0describes as \u201ca conservative-leaning, former opinion editor for the\u00a0Orange County Register<\/em>.\u201d When he was named a month ago, Calle promised not to change the\u00a0Weekly<\/em>\u2019s editorial bent.<\/p>\n

By Wednesday, the only Semanal investor mentioned publicly so far was David Welch, a Los Angeles attorney best known for representing members of the cannabis industry. However, on Thursday, the\u00a0Times<\/em>\u00a0announced that UC Berkeley Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky had agreed to be an investor as well, with Chemerinsky citing his respect for Calle\u2019s work as the reason.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, yesterday, LA journalist-blogger Otto Von Biz Markie (@Passionweiss) reported today \u201cThe (last?) @LAWeekly print edition came out this A.M. The site wasn\u2019t updated at all today. No one is on socials. These buyers have no interest even of turning it into a shell of itself. This is a plot to kill the 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0biggest publication in America\u2019s 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0biggest city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesterday, @Passionweiss referred to internal sources saying that the new management was in talks with former, disgraced\u00a0OC Register<\/em>\u00a0writers with alt-right leanings. He references\u00a0a story penned by Calle\u00a0<\/a>that starts: \u201cRussian President Vladimir Putin really had no choice except to act on annexing Crimea. The reasons go back many years and involve politics, the economy and the fact that many Crimeans identify more with Russia than Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, as of Thursday night, the\u00a0Society for Professional Journalists released a statement<\/a>, condemning the secrecy. \u201cIt\u2019s an absolute outrage that the public doesn\u2019t know who owns\u00a0LA Weekly<\/em>. No media outlet should hide who its owners are, especially one of such prominence in America\u2019s second largest city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calle responded this morning with an\u00a0editorial in the paper<\/a>, in which he says: \u201cThe\u00a0L.A. Weekly<\/i>\u00a0group 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\u2013based investor. And Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley\u2019s law school, also plans to invest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calle refers to the former glory days of the\u00a0LA Weekly<\/em>, when everybody picked it up, which was not the case more recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in the potential of\u00a0L.A. Weekly<\/i>\u00a0to bring the powerful Los Angeles perspective to a new, broader audience. I am committed to keeping the\u00a0Weekly\u00a0<\/i>alive as we transform from a newspaper with a website into a truly digital media outlet \u2014 which also happens to have a very cool print component.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that this site, Stage Raw, was formed mainly from critics let go from the\u00a0Weekly<\/em>\u00a0a few years back during the putsch-before-this-putsch, we are all keenly following this story, with particular attention to how it is going to impact coverage of the theater community.<\/p>\n

My first impression when this story broke was dismay \u2013 and I noticed that the Facebook threads of many colleagues who have written for\u00a0Weekly<\/em>\u00a0are full of concern for the online archives, which basically include the history of the city\u2019s culture over the last 10 years. What will happen if the new owners decide to shut down the records of 10,000 theater reviews, just as capriciously as they shut down the staff?<\/p>\n

But, on the other hand, after some consideration, I am unsure precisely whether this will all turn out to be quite as terrible as that. I hope not. I am quite skeptical, though.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”902″ image_size=”full” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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