Free at last!
That's how I feel about starting a new chapter of my life and leaving the Los Angeles Daily News behind after the happiest 23 years in my life personally and professionally.
My last day on the job as editor of the Daily News was April 4 and every day since has been amazing, filled with a lot of love and support from friends, colleagues, acquaintances and even people I didn't know.
The newspaper business has been tough for a long while and getting worse day by day so the stress level has been high and I can't put into words just how good it feels to be free of it, to be free to participate in civic life just as me without a formal role, to speak publicly purely in my own voice and work directly for the things I believe in.
My only regret is the colleagues I've left behind at the Daily News, journalists most especially, since we had a great newsroom and had become a real newspaper with people finding their own voice, having fun telling stories and working hard to reinvent newspapering.
But there are also hundreds of other great people who make up the Daily News I loved so dearly, from telephone sales to the printing plant, from advertising, circulation and all the other business offices -- dedicated people who gave the paper character and identity. I wish them all the best as they struggle to find the keys to keeping alive a nearly 100-year-old tradition of community service to the San Fernando Valley.
I want to talk more about that later, the paper, the Valley, the city, the things I believe in, and the vision that drives me to fight for a better, a greater Los Angeles. I want to write from my heart and I want others to post their stories at ronkayela.com, to engage in a public conversation about who we are and what we could become if we pull together and work together for the common good.
We'll never know what that is or how to achieve it unless we talk about our experiences, our values, our needs and our aspirations. I believe with all my heart that that kind of public conversation will cut through the fog of political, media and corporate double talk and lead us to the common ground where we can start solving the problems of our community and make life better for us all.
I certainly don't pretend to know the answers; I only know what I see and I'm probably wrong about most of all of it. My newsroom knew that, and had a saying, "You can't spell wrong without R-O-N."
So let's tell the truth as we see it and learn from each other. Let the games begin.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
Right or wrong... can't wait to read your next post.
Hello Ron,
Good to see you have a blog going. Hated to see the way things went down here. Good luck with this and whatever you do. Just a note the link to subscribe to your page is not working.
All the best,
Ernie Looney
Welcome to the sick, sad world of blogging, Ron. You'll love it. I know I do.
You fought the good fight, and I'm lucky to have learned from you.
I've already expressed my sadness to you about your leaving the Daily News. What a major change and now I'm going to have to give up my subscription and go read it online instead. My own personal protest..
But this is a great idea! Good luck with it. We all know Kevin Roderick, Mayor Sam, Joe Mailander and Zuma Dogg need the competition.
Kidding guys.. I wish I had time for all of you.
Go for it, Mr. Kaye. Make it local, make it real, make it count. This is your time.
I just canceled my Daily News subscription. Don't need it now and can go online and get it. I'm glad you've "resurfaced". All rested, tan and ready to tell the truth.
Hi Ron,
I heard you on KPFK today and was impressed with your passion about the news business. I miss the many pages that used to fill our local papers. I feel too much of what I read today is junk. Real stories are being ignored because no one has enough reporters to devote to the stories that take weeks to research, track, and report.
Plus, when reporters do find a real story with some teeth in it the TV media IGNORE it. Instead of playing off the newspaper story and going after it, they decide to cover a starlet or something equally meaningless instead.
The firing of reporters is showing. I was especially disappointed when the L.A. Times ran an AP story as front page news last week. I wondered if everyone had the day off and that's why they were forced to do that?
Anyway, it's good that you've begun this blog. I had a great deal of trouble registering for your site. It told me to contact the administrator. Is that you? ;-)
Glad to see you're still actively involved in city politics, but don't forget about the "other" side: you've got a lot more followers on the westside than you may realize. These days the division isn't "city" vs. "valley," but more class and issues based, middle to upper middle classes (concerned with poor schools, social costs of illegal immigration, congestion and the threat of AB1818 taking away our streets, and the related less and less city service while a smaller and smaller pool of us pay more and more in taxes...) vs. those who "want and need" from us, we know who they are and hope you'll keep pointing them out.
Many of us have loved the excitement of this city, the weather and being able to live in the city while in a suburban setting, etc. -- and don't want to give up or be pushed out without a fight! Keep up the good fight!
Ron,
First time I ran across you (Sherman Oaks Sun) I thought, man after my own heart.
Born and raised in Hollywood, I can remember when L.A. was a really great place to grow up in.
Over the last twenty five years or so, I have watched my beautiful city slowly go down the drain.
I am so glad to see and read your blog. Your interview in the sun on the culture of corruption that is flourishing in L.A was right on.
We citizens must unite to take back our city. The first step toward acheiving this goal is to find someone who can lead us on this very difficult journey.
That person is I am sure, someone you know.
His name is Walter Moore and he is running for mayor of L.A.
Back in the 1940s (I'm old enough to remember) L.A was a very corrupt city. A young candidate for mayor at that time got a lot of attention. He ran on an anti-corruption ticket. His name was Fletcher Bowron. He won the election and the first thing he did was hire a new police chief. William F. Parker was his name.
Bowron went on to clean up city hall and the city council, Parker went on to completely revamp and clean up the L.A.P.D. Los Angeles was clean and free of corruption for many years, long after Bowron's terms as mayor.
I believe Walter Moore is our twenty first cent. Bowron. Moore can't do it alone though. We need to turn citizen apathy into citizen action.
Blogs like yours will be a huge push in this direction.
Thanks for being here,
Mike Neuwirth, Sherman Oaks
Ron,
First time I ran across you (Sherman Oaks Sun) I thought, man after my own heart.
Born and raised in Hollywood, I can remember when L.A. was a really great place to grow up in.
Over the last twenty five years or so, I have watched my beautiful city slowly go down the drain.
I am so glad to see and read your blog. Your interview in the sun on the culture of corruption that is flourishing in L.A was right on.
We citizens must unite to take back our city. The first step toward acheiving this goal is to find someone who can lead us on this very difficult journey.
That person is I am sure, someone you know.
His name is Walter Moore and he is running for mayor of L.A.
Back in the 1940s (I'm old enough to remember) L.A was a very corrupt city. A young candidate for mayor at that time got a lot of attention. He ran on an anti-corruption ticket. His name was Fletcher Bowron. He won the election and the first thing he did was hire a new police chief. William F. Parker was his name.
Bowron went on to clean up city hall and the city council, Parker went on to completely revamp and clean up the L.A.P.D. Los Angeles was clean and free of corruption for many years, long after Bowron's terms as mayor.
I believe Walter Moore is our twenty first cent. Bowron. Moore can't do it alone though. We need to turn citizen apathy into citizen action.
Blogs like yours will be a huge push in this direction.
Thanks for being here,
Mike Neuwirth, Sherman Oaks