As a resident of the greater LA metropolitan region, I welcome a new newspaper. I really do. And, I also welcome the stated goals of the various apparent contributors to this thing. On the other hand, I worry that they will focus on anti-journalism rather than actual journalism. One big problem with weeklies - which are usually liberal, and the only competition to the local media monopolies in a lot of places - is that they spend too much time criticizing the existing "mainstream" paper instead of simply trying to be a better paper. The Examiner folks, along with the New York Sun folks, all sound like their goal is to attack the existing mainstream paper. Well, that's fine I suppose, but it's harder than you think and requires more than simply making nasty comments about the quality of the existing publication.
The LA Times is particularly bad in its coverage of local news - both that of L.A. itself and that of the surrounding counties. But, a new quality paper will require quality reporting, and not just snarky critiques of the competition.
Hey, I wish them well. I just hope they realize this.
