Jorge Rivas

Publisher of LA Youth Tells NY Times How to Pay for Good Journalism

Sunday’s New York Times published a letter from the publisher of L.A. Youth, the Los Angeles newspaper by and about L.A. teens, commenting on a column about how to pay for good journalism.

Take a look at the letter below.

Paying for Journalism

Re “One Newspaper, Many Checkbooks” (July 19):

Nonprofit newspapers are not a new idea. L.A. Youth was started more than 20 years ago with support by foundations and corporations. There has never been a conflict of interest or pressure from any funding source regarding our investigative reporting.

In Los Angeles, we have reported fraud and abuse in group homes, we have reported illegal searches of backpacks by school security guards, and we have brought to the Legislature’s attention the plight of youths incarcerated in private mental hospitals without the right of due process. These stories were ignored by mainstream media even in the well-financed days of journalism.

Posted at 9:49 AM, Jul 27, 2009 in Permalink | View Comments