The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' is a free weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, serving the

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

area. The newspaper focuses on general news with an emphasis on real estate and business along with coverage of the arts scene. It also has occasional historical features by Jay Berman and features in its news coverage photos by Gary Leonard (plus the weekly feature "Take My Picture Gary Leonard" that highlights notable events and local figures cultural and political). Coverage area is roughly bounded by the

Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...

to the north and east (excluding

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...

), the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

and Exposition Park to the south and

City West City West (formerly known as ''Neuer Westen'' ("New West") or ''Zooviertel'' ("Zoo Quarter")) is an area in the western part of central Berlin. It is one of Berlin's main commercial areas, and was the commercial centre of former West Berlin when ...

to the west. Its news stories frequently scoop the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and other media. The paper has also won dozens of journalism and industry awards. The paper's masthead in 2001 briefly included entertainment blogger and former Associated Press correspondent

Nikki Finke Nikki Jean Finke (December 16, 1953 – October 9, 2022) was an American blogger, journalist, publisher and writer. She also was the founder, editor-in-chief and president of ''Deadline Hollywood'', a website with original content consisting of ...

, who was hired as executive editor.

Coverage area and history

From a 2001 ''Los Angeles Times'' story about the paper: ''"(Founder and editor Sue) Laris was a public school teacher and her then-husband Jim Laris worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1972 when they decided to start their own community newspaper. They targeted downtown because there weren't any other weeklies there at the time. When the couple divorced in 1979, Laris bought her husband's share of the business. Over the years, the newspaper's folksy approach and loyal advertisers sustained it while others succumbed to diminishing readership and the high cost of newsprint. Today, the Downtown News operates on a $1.7 million annual budget."'' It publishes more than 40,000 copies every Monday, is audited by VAC. and distributed via newsracks in

Wilshire Center Wilshire Center is a neighborhood in the Central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Wilshire Center is roughly bounded by Melrose Avenue on the north, Virgil Avenue and Hoover Street on the east, Wilton Place and Crenshaw Bouleva ...

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, Glendale,

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

, Silver Lake and

Larchmont Village Larchmont is a half-square-mile neighborhood in the central region of the City of Los Angeles, California. It has three schools and one small park. It has been the site of early and recent motion picture shoots. Geography According to the Gr ...

. On September 30, 2016, Sue Laris announced online the Los Angeles Downtown News, after 44 years, is for sale. It was sold to Southland Publishing in 2017. In August 2019,

Times Media Group (Arizona) Times Media Group is an American media company based in the state of Arizona. Its publications include: ''85085 Magazine'', ''85086 Magazine'', ''Ahwatukee Foothills News'', ''College Times Magazine'', ''The Entertainer! Magazine'', ''East Valle ...

acquired the parent company of Los Angeles Downtown News, Southland Publishing, which was focused on several markets in Southern California. The acquisition included eight print publications and associated digital properties. The five newspapers acquired at that time included ''LA Downtown News'' ''Ventura County Reporter'', ''The Argonaut'' (

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

), ''Pasadena Weekly'', and ''San Diego CityBeat''. The three magazines acquired included ''Ventana Monthly'', ''Playa Vista Direct'' and ''Arroyo Magazine''. The acquisition is notable as it marks Times Media Group’s sizable expansion of its portfolio of publications and a move into the California market.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official siteDowntown MarketplaceDowntown LA Scene
Downtown News Independent newspapers published in the United States Newspapers established in 1972 1972 establishments in California Weekly newspapers published in California