Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times

[me b zola]

Last night I watched the documentary Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times on PBS and thought that it was so good I wanted to share it with others.

ABOUT THE FILM

Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times, a documentary by Emmy-winning filmmaker Peter Jones, tells the story of the Los Angeles Times and the city’s most powerful family. For four generations, the Chandlers wielded unique influence through their newspaper. In their pursuit of personal agendas and civic ideals, they built the city of the future, but also exposed the dark side of the American dream.

Inventing LA employs unprecedented access to the family and the Times’ archives which span the century that Harrison Gray Otis, Harry Chandler, Norman Chandler, and Otis Chandler stood at the helm of the newspaper and at the center of the city’s economic, social and cultural growth. A character-driven film, it traces the ruthless, ingenious and often self-serving methods by which four publishers used the newspaper to turn a tiny town into a world metropolis.
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/inventing-la/about_film.html



The early generations of Chandlers were extreme RWers who used their power to elect republicans, crush any chances of unions organizing anywhere in LA, and some were members of the John Birch society. The last Chandler to head the Times broke with the family and turned the paper around to be a pulitzer prize winning paper with a social conscience.

Well worth the watch. You can view it online:

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/inventing-la/watch_online.html

[EmeraldCityGrl]

1. I really enjoyed this documentary.

The decline of the newspaper industry, and the fascinating Chandlers especially Otis and Dorothy.

[me b zola]

2. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley

I had no idea about the history of LA, how they attracted Midwesterners to "the white spot", how they white-washed the Mexican history of LA, and just how horrible of a paper it was until Otis took the helm. Fascinating.

[Octafish]

6. Helped launch some interesting pols, too.

Eh, after the proper introductions were made, of course.

[Howardx]

3. if you liked this

i recommend a book called "la noir" by john buntin. it charts the parallel stories of chief parker and gangster mickey cohen.

[me b zola]

4. Kicking for the night-owls

[EFerrari]

5. This sounds interesting. I'm rereading a bunch of Didion right now

and the Chandlers will fit right in!