MARC COOPER CHARTS THE LA WEEKLY'S DECLINE

Marc Cooper is a long-time, L.A.-based journalist who worked at the LA Weekly (among other publications) for many years. In a recent blog post, Cooper performs an "autopsy" on the Weekly, explaining how the paper's buy-out from the New Times/Village Voice company pretty much drove a stake through its heart that's been destroying the publication, slowly by surely. Cooper's inside view should be taken with the understanding that his is not what you'd call a wholly objective opinion - his utter disdain for some people isn't veiled at all - but for those of us interested in how/why print journalism has been in decline, it's a sobering analysis.

I've written for the LA Weekly, off and on, since around 2000 and much of what Cooper addresses hasn't been so transparent to me mostly because the changes that have happened rarely impact the music section in terms of content (dedicated pages is another story tough). Reading this through and one wonders if there are any good weeklies left out there. I hope my old stomping ground - the SF Bay Guardian - has been doing well, especially in this economy. (Credit: M. Matos)

--O.W.