Latest posts
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March 2011: LA Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein takes the stand in the Tribune bankruptcy trial
By Maya Trent · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, March 2011 In mid-March 2011, FishbowlLA tracked a substantive LA-media-business moment: LA Times publisher Eddy Hartenstein took the stand in the Tribune Company bankruptcy trial. Then The Tribune Company bankruptcy was one of the most consequential American newspaper-industry financial collapses of…
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November 2011: Conrad Murray’s creditors sue NBCUniversal over the documentary fee
By Jordan Vega · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, November 2011 In mid-November 2011, FishbowlLA covered a complicated media-ethics-and-litigation story: as the documentary Michael Jackson and the Doctor: A Fatal Friendship was set to air on MSNBC, creditors of Conrad Murray sued NBCUniversal. Murray had reportedly been paid around $300,000…
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Conrad Murray’s creditors come after NBCUniversal and MSNBC
By Owen Reyes · Republished 2026-05-20 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, 2011 When MSNBC scheduled a documentary built around Conrad Murray, FishbowlLA flagged the lawsuit that followed the money — and questioned the wisdom of the deal that produced it. Then The documentary Michael Jackson and the Doctor: A Fatal Friendship was…
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THR’s web editor disputes TheWrap’s report of his exit
By Sasha Park · Republished 2026-05-20 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, 2011 In October 2011 FishbowlLA found itself refereeing a bitter dispute between two media outlets over a story about a third one. Then TheWrap’s Lucas Shaw had reported that THR.com deputy web editor Patrick Day was leaving for the LA Times,…
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Joseph Kapsch disputes TheWrap’s exit story — a 2011 THR masthead messy moment
By Owen Reyes · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer (2011) · Wayback archive → In late October 2011, TheWrap’s Lucas Shaw reported that THR.com editor Joseph Kapsch — only a few months into the job — was on his way out. Kapsch publicly disputed the report. Then Patrick Day, THR’s deputy web editor, had just…
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November 2011: KPCC hires Tami Abdollah for the education beat
By Sasha Park · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Richard Horgan on FishbowlLA, November 2011 In mid-November 2011, FishbowlLA covered KPCC’s hiring of former LA Times staff writer Tami Abdollah as the public-radio station’s education writer. The hire was made by Tony Pierce. The original FishbowlLA framing tracked the LA-Times-to-KPCC reporter migration. Then The…
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Jonathan Gold’s ’99 Essential Restaurants’ for 2011 — what makes an LA restaurant essential
By Cassidy Lee · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Marcus Vanderberg on FishbowlLA, November 2011 In early November 2011, FishbowlLA covered the release of Jonathan Gold’s “99 Essential Restaurants” list for 2011 — the LA Weekly’s annual flagship dining guide from the Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic. The question Gold posed that year was deceptively…
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The Hollywood Book Festival’s 2011 call for entries — and the adaptation-potential judging criteria
By Cassidy Lee · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, January 2011 In late January 2011, the Hollywood Book Festival announced a call for entries to its sixth annual literary competition. Books would be judged across 14 categories, but two of the stated criteria stood out: the storytelling ability of the…
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April 2011: Elvis Mitchell leaves Movieline, and fellow journalists place their bets
By Sasha Park · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Richard Horgan on FishbowlLA, April 2011 In late April 2011, FishbowlLA tracked Elvis Mitchell’s latest career shuffle — his termination as chief film critic of Movieline.com. The original FishbowlLA framing noted that fellow journalists were “placing their bets” on the mercurial critic’s next move. Then…
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August 2011: photographer David Strick sues the LA Times — and a Tim Rutten reporting dispute
By Maya Trent · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Richard Horgan on FishbowlLA, August 2011 In mid-August 2011, FishbowlLA covered two parallel LA Times stories. Freelance photographer David Strick had filed a lawsuit against the paper. And — separately — reporter Brent Lang had run an item that the original FishbowlLA framing called “a…