Los Angeles Herald Archive

Established in 1873, the Los Angeles Herald represented the largely Democratic views of the city and focused primarily on issues local to Los Angeles and Southern California. Appealing to a mostly working-class audience during its 116 years of publication, the Herald evolved from a primary focus on agriculture to reporting extensively on Hollywood gossip and local scandal, reflecting the transformation of Los Angeles itself during the twentieth century.

The Los Angeles Daily Herald was first published on October 2, 1873, by Charles A. Storke. The Herald was the first newspaper in Southern California to use the innovative steam press; the newspaper’s offices at 125 South Broadway were popular with the public because large windows on the ground floor allowed passersby to see the presses in motion. William Ivan “Ike” St. Johns and Adela Rogers St. Johns, a popular husband and wife reporting team, were among the notable Herald staff in the early years. Storke lost the paper to creditors, who together formed the Los Angeles City and County Publishing Company in 1874. The Herald continued to focus on local news including agriculture, business, and culture. Under the leadership of Robert M. Widney, the paper’s circulation increased dramatically. Widney interviewed local farmers and business owners for free and used this information to report on the region. The Los Angeles Weekly Herald making use of this material, sold over 1,000 copies a week. Beginning in the teens and guided by the Hearst-trained editors, Edwin R. Collins and John B.T. Campbell, the local coverage for which the Herald was known started to emphasize scandal, crime, and the emerging Hollywood scene. By the 1920s, editors Wes Barr and James H. Richardson were so well known for their investigative reporting that they became the prototypes for the morally ambiguous, chain-smoking reporters who figured in so many film noir movies of the 1930s. In 1922, the Herald officially joined the Hearst News empire, although several sources suggest that Hearst had secretly purchased the paper in 1911 when Collins and Campbell took the helm. In 1931, Hearst merged the Los Angeles Daily Herald with the Los Angeles Evening Express to form the Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express, which was then the largest circulating evening newspaper west of the Mississippi.

See also: Los Angeles Daily Herald, October 2, 1873-November 12, 1876; Daily Los Angeles Herald, November 14, 1876-October 5, 1884; Los Angeles Daily Herald, October 7,1884-March 22, 1890; Los Angeles Herald, March 23, 1890-January 15, 1893; The Herald, January 16, 1893-March 31, 1900; Los Angeles Herald, April 1, 1900-November 1, 1911.