Los Angeles Weecap by the Numbers

4 days

11 meetings

240 miles

5 Starbucks, 2 Coffee Beans and an IHOP

1 parking ticket

1,000 ideas

10 days to go

Oh California Oh

This weekend I watched the Joan Rivers documentary, “A Piece of Work.” In the film, Rivers’ agent talks about one of the first times he met with Richard Pryor. The agent sat down with the comedian and laid out a master plan for his career, explaining projects that were six and 12 months down the road. Pryor looked at the agent and said, “That’s all great but what the f--- are we gonna do Monday?”

That’s how I feel. It’s great to have big visions and ideas, to think about how I’ll achieve something and plan it all to death. But, you still have to get up in the morning and make it happen.

With that in mind, I have a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles on deck for Aug. 10^th to the 13^th. I had been thinking for some time that it would be useful to go out to L.A. as part of my independent study then, all of the sudden, I looked at the calendar and realized that the quarter is quickly coming to an end. So, off to Los Angeles I go.

The purpose of the trip is to talk to journalists, professors and political types about political and governmental reporting in the city. What gaps do they see in coverage? What types of stories are poorly or inconsistently reported? My adviser pointed out to me that if I’m going after an audience that already reads the Los Angeles Times, then I have to find the stories The Times doesn’t have. I have 10 interviews lined up so far, with another three in the works. I’m sure it will be exhausting.

The trip is added motivation to get this project done. The various elements I have written up for the business plan – a positioning statement, a market and competitive analysis, the financials – are being compiled into one final document. My sketches for the website are getting photoshopped and coded. The Twitter and Facebook pages will, I expect, be public in another week or two.

In between my interviews, I want to photograph iconic images of Los Angeles that can be used on the Project Goldfish website. “Iconic” images being a little bit of what tourists would expect to see – the Hollywood sign, City Hall, the LAX sign – and a lot of what Angelenos would expect to see. I want to capture what makes Los Angeles home to more than 3 million people. [Update: As I was writing this, Kevin Roderick posted a link to news photographer Bryan Frank’s photographs of the city: http://coolshots.blogspot.com/.]

I also added The City at Stake to my reading list. Raphael Sonenshein’s book on Los Angeles’ charter reform is one that should probably be in my library of L.A. books regardless, but I expect it will be particularly helpful as I navigate the political-governmental divide of stories.

Spending a few days in California will make this project feel “real,” as will finding investors. Last week I contacted the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce, which pointed me toward the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. The group’s very helpful website includes a section on financing and within that, there is an even better list of Southern California venture capitalist firms. I spent time Friday researching every firm on the list. I found four that specialize in financing media and online start-ups.

I briefly thought about just knocking on the firms’ doors and asking for a suitcase full of cash. I have a winning personality and that’s all it takes, right? Hmm … well, maybe it takes an actual proposal. With that in mind, I’ve reached out to venture capitalists I know here in Chicago to ask them how I approach investors and what they will expect to see from me in a start-up proposal.

The greatest challenge in the next two weeks is finding an answer to the question everyone asks me: How are you going to make money? Sigh. I’m meeting with another professor on Wednesday for help on estimating impressions and contracting with an ad network. Another small step toward the greater vision.

Making Randy Newman Proud

I was sitting at my desk in the attic of Medill yesterday when I got into a discussion with a business student who is up here working on his own start-up. He was asking me who I think my target audience is with Project Goldfish and why these people would add another site to their daily digest of media. I started with my bit on covering the stories other news organizations ignore because of time or personnel restraints, shining a light on campaign donations and votes, and so on. My classmate looked at me with a puzzled look and said, “I think you should just write the stories people want.”

OK. I appreciate the concept of providing consumers with stories they want – thus, the customer surveys that were sent out this week – but that is just one part of the journalism equation. Reporters have a duty to hold politicians accountable, to tell the stories of Angelenos who lack access, to listen to the committee meetings and read the reports that no reasonable person would waste his time on. Limiting my newsgathering to just the stories readers want would be a disservice to the organization.

It would also be a disservice to Los Angeles and its residents. Here’s the thing – about a year ago, my friend and I were hiking through Griffith Park. It was nearing sunset as we rounded the Observatory. I was going on about all the things I was going to miss about Los Angeles. I probably brought up ‘SC football games, my friends, the hydrangeas outside my apartment and breakfast burritos from Tacos Delta. And then I got myself all worked up, going on and on about the things that frustrate me about the city. The cracked sidewalks and overflowing garbage cans at Hollywood Boulevard and Vermont. The fact that gunfire is the soundtrack to South Los Angeles. The city ordinances that no one can enforce. Why do we accept failure in this amazing city? Why don’t we push L.A. to be as great as it is in songs and movies and teenagers’ imaginations? When I finally took a breath, my friend looked at me, smiled and said, “You’re describing love. You love L.A., that’s why it drives you crazy to see it fall short.”

It’s true.

Ever since I moved back to Chicago, I have had people tell me they can’t stand L.A.; they don’t understand why anyone would live there. I’ve had people literally laugh in my face when I tell them I covered politics in Southern California. I defend the city the way I would defend family but ultimately, I know that the people complaining about the smell in Venice or the price of a mediocre house or oh, the traffic! just don’t know the real Los Angeles.

This is a place where you can hike to the Hollywood sign (saved twice by Chicagoan Hugh Hefner) or visit the Batcave. Where else do you have mountains in the middle of a sprawling urban center? It’s a city where the best tacos come from trucks (and usually at 2 a.m.). I love that it’s the place where the DMV gave me the driver’s test in Spanish. (In fairness, I was rockin’ a killer tan from spring break at the time.) From L.A., you can get to snowcapped mountains in one direction and rolling vineyards in another. It’s a place where people are offended by youth gun violence and Angelenos sleeping in doorways; no one says, "That's just the way it is."

This is all to say that the content Project Goldfish will produce is intended to celebrate the city. It is an opportunity to see what makes this city great, and what can be done to move it forward. “Celebrate” does not mean positive fluff, either. I’m not a cheerleader and I’m not a glass-half-full kinda gal. Sometimes the truth is going to hurt, but transparency and honesty will light the way.

Dance Break: