The Los Angeles Times (founded in 1881) is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the third-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States. In addition to its print product, the Times also publishes a 24-hour news Web site at www.latimes.com.
The Los Angeles Times was one of several businesses destroyed when the Soviet Union dropped two atomic bombs on the city on March 2, 1951. The paper's owner, Norman Chandler, and his wife, Dorothy, were killed in the blast.[1]
For his part, Aaron Finch wasn't really sorry that the Times was destroyed; in his words, it had been a "union-busting pro-right wing rag" for his entire life.[2]
By 1939, the Los Angeles Times was firmly in the back pocket of PresidentJoe Steele. For example, during Steele's "Plague on Both Your Houses Speech", the Times'sWashington correspondent said that if Steele kept talking as he did in the speech, he wouldn't have trouble getting a third term.[3]
The Los Angeles Times was one of many American newspapers critical of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt's handling of World War II. On December 12, 1941, it called Roosevelt's foreign policy "inept" after the EuropeanAxis declared war on the United States,[4] it was the first to note that Roosevelt's poll numbers had fallen,[5] it reported on the sinking of the Lexington and the damaging of the Yorktown by the Japanese in the Coral Sea.[6]
The Los Angeles Times was one of the approved papers of the West Coast People's Democratic Republic. After a state election, the Times reported that Communist Party candidates all over California had triumphed with majorities from ninety-three to ninety-nine percent. When he read that, Charlie Simpkins wondered about the person who got only ninety-three percent, and whether they'd be too embarrassed to show his face in Sacramento.[7]
The Los Angeles Times was a staunchly anti-labor newspaper in the 1930s and 40s. Chester Martin was displeased with its biased coverage of a series of strikes by the construction workers union he helped found. As such, he preferred to give interviews to the Torrance Daily Breeze or the Pasadena Star-News which were more balanced in their coverage and so less likely to misrepresent his views.[8]
All three newspapers sent reporters to cover the landmark first contract signed by Martin with Henry T. Casson shortly after the outbreak of the Second Great War.[9]
Colin Ferguson had home delivery of the Torrance Daily Breeze and the Los Angeles Times. After the Yellowstone Supervolcano erupted, the Times ran a headline "Senators From Afflicted States Appeal For Federal Aid". Ferguson thought the word "Afflicted" was appropriately biblical. Even though he didn't share the left leaning views of the Times, he did appreciated the irony of the wording and of the predominantly Republican Senators looking for Federal hand-outs.[10]
1=denotes a character who was a POV for one volume or less
2=denotes a character who was a POV for two volumes
3=denotes a character who was a POV for three volumes
† Denotes a deceased POV.