TCA Press Tour: Chandler family gets a documentary
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They were grandly ambitious, they were deeply dysfunctional and they are now long gone from the newspaper they founded more than a century ago. They are the Chandler family, the former owners of the Los Angeles Times, and whether you know it or not, they led the transformation of Los Angeles from a sleepy desert community into an economic and cultural powerhouse.
That is the thrust of an upcoming documentary “Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times,” slated to air in October on KCET. This morning, Harry Brant Chandler, son of newsroom legend and former Times publisher Otis Chandler, was joined by filmmaker Peter Jones and former Times publisher Tom Johnson to promote the two-hour work at the Television Critics Assn.’s summer press tour.
The documentary charts the enormous growth of the family’s influence through five generations at the newspaper. Much attention is paid to Otis Chandler, who is largely credited with turning the paper into a world class news organization during the 1960s and 1970s. It’s not all flattering.
“Otis was no saint,” said Johnson, who worked with Otis for 17 years and praised his former boss’ unyielding dedication to journalistic excellence.
“My father was certainly a flawed character,” added Harry Chandler. “He wasn’t a great dad, but he was a great publisher.”
And of the newspaper industry’s current woes, brought on by the rise of the Internet and the collapse of the economy, Johnson offered some possible remedies. First, papers must shore up “gaping holes” in coverage, which for the Los Angeles Times means aggressively covering the city’s suburban communities and San Fernando Valley once again. He also said papers never should have agreed to give away their content online and that the survival of print will depend upon one day charging for it.
When the documentary premiered in Santa Barbara recently, many members of the Chandler family apparently weren’t impressed.
“It’s caused a few earthquakes in the family,” Harry Chandler said.
– Martin Miller