What is this?
Journalists don’t know things. They know people who knows things. Sort of. This industry has been mutating and dying even before the pandemic. In Los Angeles, publications have shuttered and downsized. Editors are held hostage by Twitter’s insane algorithm. They only want divisive content. Supporting local, independent reporting is more important than ever. Aside from having a mental defect where I can’t stop writing, that’s why I’m doing this. Most journalism doesn’t produce live copy anymore. Objective journalism was never real. The goal here is to write from a point of view and become a voice readers trust. I got my start on the East Coast at an alternative weekly, then worked as a beat reporter covering towns and crime for daily newspapers. Recently, I covered legal happenings throughout California. My stories have also appeared in Vice, Daily Beast, KCRW, the Ringer, Outline (RIP). After doing this for over a decade, I felt like I was finally getting somewhere, but then ***gestures broadly at current dumpster fire***. I’ve always been deeply interested in what journalists do. But I left my job in order to have more freedom and to cover local government. Here, you can get information that isn’t being influenced by editors, advertising, or helicoptering public relations flacks. Just my terrified brain on a constant deadline.
My elevator pitch:
The Debaser, which is not really a newsletter, will mostly be a clearinghouse for reporting on power structures in Los Angeles, elite attorneys and the serious professionals who run LA. One story you’ll see mentioned a lot is the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power debacle, which I broke while at the Los Angeles Daily Journal. I will continue to cover that white collar corruption story here. It’s a ridiculous story. One time I walked up to an attorney involved with the case just to introduce myself, and he straight up ran away from me. It was one of the funniest moments of my life.
I will also write culture stories, translated legalese, fiction, satire, music and book criticism. A vibe will be maintained. Donald Trump and Covid will not be written about. Just some primitive, guerrilla journalism. I promise to keep you informed, depressed (without ads!) and occasionally lol-ing as we do a tour through LA’s final stage. And it’s free! But I will also definitely take your money.
Praise for The Debaser:
“It’s trash” - LA Daily Journal
“Subversive.” - Richard Schlamper
“Lol!” - a reader
“His attitude problem is going to cost him a lot of money some day.” - Tim O’Brien
“A nice guy.” - some lawyer
Check out my stories in The New Republic, Vice, Daily Beast, The Ringer, and Los Angeles Magazine
I Spent a Weird, Unsettling Night With RFK Jr.’s Most Die-hard Supporters / The New Republic
Can Poland Survive Its Trump Moment? / The Outline
Dating Tom / The Debaser
A Primer on the LADWP Corruption Saga / Los Angeles Magazine
Hospitals Are Dumping Mentally Ill Patients in LA’s Skid Row / Vice
Are LADWP Prosecutors Protecting Politicians? / The Debaser
The Intellectually Disabled Man Who Spent 25 Years in Prison For a Wrongful Murder Conviction / Vice
Cast Out / The Debaser
After 5 Years, Immigrant’s Disappearance Remains a Mystery / Journal Inquirer
The Familiar Otherness of Merriweather Post Pavilion / The Ringer
