**Please Excuse the Mess, Profile Update in Progress**
Publication analysis
About the publication
Title: Los Angeles Times (LA Times)
ISSN: 0458-3035 1
Purpose, objective, or mission: “The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Times has been covering Southern California for more than 138 years.”2
“Bringing truth to power through creative storytelling, original reporting and accountability journalism that impacts lives and pushes change.” 3
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Target audience: Residents of Southern California and beyond. “Millennials, Gen X, Multicultural Influencers, Affluent Consumers, Families and Parents, Boomers.” 4
Publisher: Los Angeles Times Media Group.5
Peer reviewed? No.
Type: Civilian publication.
Medium: Print and online. Archives are available online from the founding of the paper in 1881.6
Content: News reports, investigative journalism, editorials, reviews, and various columns. The website’s sections include news at the Local, Nation, World level, as well as Business, Climate & Environment, Entertainment & Arts, Food, Housing & Homeless, Lifestyle, Opinion, Politics, Science, Sports, and Travel. Several more options can be found viewing the Site Map. 7 Of interest to LIS writers, there is a special Books sub-section under Entertainment, including fiction and nonfiction book reviews and features.
Frequency of publication: Daily. 8
About the publication’s submission guidelines
Location of submission guidelines: https://www.latimes.com/oe-howtosubmitoped-story.html
Types of contributions accepted: Op-ed articles are welcome on any subject. Per the website, “Most articles are about 750 words in length, though some are shorter, and on Sundays we can sometimes run pieces as long as 1,200 words 9 For more information on op-ed pieces, see former editor Nicholas Goldberg’s explanation of op-ed processes and goals. 10
Letters to the Editor are another option if you wish to respond to anything already published. They are limited to 150 words. 11
Blowback, is another opportunity to publish within the Times. “Got a beef with the L.A. Times? Read something in the paper that really ticked you off, but haven’t got a place to make your opinion heard? Want to write an article about it and get it into The Times? Blowback is The Times’ forum for full-length responses to our articles, editorials and Op-Eds. It is the missing link between the 150-word letter to the editor and the Op-Ed piece, and you’re invited to participate. We’re willing to post Blowback items on both news and opinion pieces, but our focus is on opinion. The idea is to present countering opinions, not to provide a forum for pointing out errors or critiquing bias in the Times’ news coverage.12
Submission and review process: Op-Ed articles: Email op-ed submissions to oped@latimes.com. We make every effort to read manuscripts promptly. If the article is accepted for publication, you will hear from a Times editor within five days. We regret that the volume of submissions we receive means that we cannot respond individually to each article, nor can we provide feedback to proposals or queries. 13
Letters to the Editor: Complete the form located here . “We generally do not publish more than one letter from a single person within any 60-day period. Letters become the property of The Times and may be republished in any format. They typically run 150 words or less and may be edited. You will be contacted if your letter is a candidate for publication.” 14
Blowback: Email Blowback submissions to blowback@latimes.com. 15
Editorial tone: Journalistic.
Style guide used: None specified.
Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors
Los Angeles Times is read by a general audience (not necessarily confined to Southern California) who wants to be ahead of the local and world news. Op-ed pieces about new digital collections, expanded library services, or opening of a new library branch would benefit LIS authors. You might also consider submitting a press release or event listing regarding a library event.
Audience analysis
About the publication’s readers
Publication circulation: The Los Angeles Times is “the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 1.3 million and 2 million on Sunday, more than 30 million unique latimes.com visitors monthly and a combined print and online local weekly audience of 4.6 million.” 16
According to their current media kit, The Times has 46 Million unique visitors, 90 Million page views, 7 Million+ social followers, 332,000 monthly shares on Apple News, 845,000 video views, 4.4 Million weekly print + digital readers in Los Angeles, 2.9 million weekly print readers, 1.8 million Sunday print readers, and 1.2 Million daily print readers. 17
Audience location and language or cultural considerations: Los Angeles Times is regional to Southern California, but it’s journalism and reporting covers content on a global scale. While printed in English, Los Angeles Times En Español is also available.
Reader characteristics: “We reach distinct, affluent and diverse audiences of multiple generations, demographics, preferences and interests.” 18
Knowledge of LIS subject matter: Being a lay publication, Los Angeles Times will require LIS jargon-free contributions. While readers may be familiar with library issues, like Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) and Dewey call numbers, generally authors should avoid writing on heavily specialized library topics such as OpenURL link resolver software technology or collection management.
Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors
The newspaper’s readers are spread all over the world. They are everyday patrons and potential donors, suggesting they may wish to keep their submissions LIS jargon free and stay away from highly specialized topics. There is potential for publishing on a myriad of topics through the Op-Ed avenue that may be of interest to readers.
Last updated: December 5, 2020
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