let’s say in 10 years i finish this thing.

i will overshadow it.

the same way Huell Howser overshadowed his show, and Anthony Bourdain overshadowed his, and Studs Terkel overshadowed Working.

you can’t help it. you think of the host and not the guest.

and worse, some people might not even dive into the thing because of the host.

in no way am i saying that i am powerful enough to go to every neighborhood in LA and the takeaway will be omg tony pierce is cooler than LA… im saying it will be known as a crazy epic thing that tony pierce made

instead of, omg heres all the neighborhoods of LA, thus here is LA, thus wow – lets check out some of these places

AND

how cool were those people.

it seems to me the only way to get those results instead of the one i am afraid of

is to do it with a team. the bigger the better.

today Kevin Merida, the new editor of the LA Times, basically said Hear in LA is the way the LA Times should build trust.  when i agreed, both Angel Jennings (who used to be the only Black reporter on the giant Metro desk – and now she’s on the masthead) and the EIC both liked my reply when I said it was perfect.

not only do i hope they didn’t think i was being sarcastic

but i hope they know that if i am approached to do Hear in LA at the Times I would be more than interested, but i would want it to be a full court press

i would want as many people on the payroll as possible to interview the people in their neighborhood.

because when it’s a full team effort, the story becomes less about the storytellers

and way more about the people who are in those neighborhoods.

when Hear in LA is completed, i want people to remember the people.