With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
The scoop on RealTALK LA
Rumors are flying about the future of L.A. Weekly founder Jay Levin’s latest venture, RealTALK LA. Kevin Roderick of LAObserved posted Friday that the new magazine may be folding due to the inability to make payroll. Today, he posted a note from Levin’s executive assistant refuting the payroll claim saying, “It is true that we are re-organizing even while we prepare our next issue and will have more to report at a later date.” No indication of the time-frame or effect of the reorganization.
In preview of the magazine and its website, Levin rolled out an unprecedented ad campaign. It’s been impossible these last few months to go anywhere in the city without encountering a RealTALK LA bus stop or billboard ad. The first issue – May – came out a week late. The editorial content follows through on the mission set out in the magazine’s press kit: “An innovative focus on the diversity and creativity of the region’s ‘peoplescape,’” including focused coverage of LA’s Latino, Asian-American and African-American communities.
RealTALK's potential success or failure will say a lot about the current media landscape. It is a noble cause to employ multiculturalism/ethnic diversity as a central theme, but the danger lies in coming off as too sincere, too effortful - especially in 2007, when irony, sarcasm and irreverence reign supreme.
Sponsored message
As someone who works for a small, local magazine, I wish success for RealTALK as an additional voice in regional media. But I also was touched by some of Levin's remarks in his founder's letter, printed on page one of the premiere issue. In that letter, Levin states his determination to "reinvent the regional magazine" and to "fill what we perceive as an immense intimacy gap in the public space called media." In short, Levin intended RealTALK as a bridge between the people and the media that are supposed to represent them. That's a hefty intention, but one justly served by the mere acknowledgment of the widening chasm between the media and their readers.
We'll know more come June 1, when issue #2 is due to hit stands.
At LAist, we focus on what matters to our community: clear, fair, and transparent reporting that helps you make decisions with confidence and keeps powerful institutions accountable.
Your support for independent local news is critical. With federal funding for public media gone, LAist faces a $1.7 million yearly shortfall. Speaking frankly, how much reader support we receive now will determine the strength of this reliable source of local information now and for years to come.
This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
That’s why we’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Thank you for understanding how essential it is to have an informed community and standing up for free press.
Your support for independent local news is critical. With federal funding for public media gone, LAist faces a $1.7 million yearly shortfall. Speaking frankly, how much reader support we receive now will determine the strength of this reliable source of local information now and for years to come.
This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
That’s why we’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Thank you for understanding how essential it is to have an informed community and standing up for free press.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
