Randy Economy (left) and Brian Hews (right) with L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley.
It’s what Pulitzer Prizes are made of; it’s just rare for a free, five-person newspaper to make it. But on Monday publisher Brian Hews and reporter Randy Economy of Los Cerritos Community News will discuss their investigation of the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office, which landed County Assessor John Noguez in jail for a quid pro quo scheme that saw him lowering property values so his campaign contributors would be required to pay less than they rightly owed in property taxes.
Monday’s event is being put on by GreaterLongBeach.com, whose publisher, Dave Wielenga, will act as moderater. An open Q&A with Hews and Economy will follow the discussion.
“Hews and Economy will address the ways their work has contradicted some widely held public opinions about the news media, which seem to be relegating newspapers, local publications, and perhaps traditional journalism altogether to the pending irrelevance of a death bed,” says Wielenga.
The Community News investigation took over a year to complete, the results of which were documented in a series of articles that, cumulatively, earned the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize nomination. Former L.A. County District Attorney Cooley and his successor, Jackie Lacey, submitted a letters of support to the Pulitzer Prize committee on behalf of Los Cerritos Community News, with Cooley labeling the Noguez case the largest and most significant public corruption case in L.A. County history.
“It is the story of a lifetime, one of the biggest scandals in modern L.A. history,” says Hews. “It’s a Watergate-style journalistic adventure that took us to dark bars and remote meeting places, and subjected us to threats and bullying from Noguez allies, advisers, and the largest public-relations firm in Los Angeles. We were even threatened by two elected members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.”
Wielenga is inspired by Hews and Economy’s investigation and hopes sharing their success may help reinvigorate local journalists.
“As a small, free, weekly local paper with only two staff reporters among a total workforce of five, the Los Cerritos Community News epitomizes the plight of papers today,” Wielenga says. “But suddenly it now also epitomizes the possibilities. I think people should note and consider this. Lately, it’s seemed to me that the debate about the future of traditional journalism is transitioning into a deathwatch. Personally, I’ve been reawakened to my own opportunities as a journalist, to stop mourning and start fighting again. Maybe our little program at McKenna’s on Monday night will have the same effect on others.”
GreaterLongBeach.com’s discussion with Brian Hews and Randy Economy will take place on Monday, March 11, at 7PM at McKenna’s Restaurant (190 N. Marina Dr., LB 90803; 562.342.9411). A pre-discussion social hour begins at 6PM. Admission is free, but due to limited seating an RSVP to [email protected] is recommended.
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