Latest posts
-
Nikki Finke fires back at The Hollywood Reporter’s lawyers — in public
By Sasha Park · Republished 2026-05-21 · Originally reported by Richard Horgan on FishbowlLA, 2011 The rivalry between Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter was the defining feud of early-2010s entertainment media. In September 2011 it spilled into legal letters — and Nikki Finke published her reply for everyone to read. Then By the fall of…
-
Former LA Times correspondent Murray Seeger dies at 82
By Maya Trent · Republished 2026-05-20 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, 2011 An August 2011 FishbowlLA notice marked the death of a Los Angeles Times correspondent who had reported from one of the toughest beats of the Cold War. Then Murray Seeger, who spent 14 years at the LA Times from 1967…
-
The 2011 MTV VMAs record ratings — and the format lesson the Oscars eventually didn’t learn
By Cassidy Lee · Originally reported by Richard Horgan (2011) · Wayback archive → In late August 2011 the MTV Video Music Awards posted their best ratings ever — a record that came with no host on stage, after Chelsea Handler had hosted the 2010 show. The original FishbowlLA framing suggested the VMA ratings might…
-
LAPD’s October 2011 social-media policy review — Detective Sal LaBarbera and the cops-on-Twitter question
By Jordan Vega · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, October 2011 In mid-October 2011, FishbowlLA tracked the LAPD’s internal-policy struggle over what officers should and shouldn’t post on Twitter and other social media platforms. The trigger had been LAPD Homicide Detective Sal LaBarbera’s posting of a crime-scene photograph and related…
-
Joseph Farrell, National Research Group founder, dies — December 2011 obit and the Hollywood test-screening legacy
By Cassidy Lee · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Richard Horgan on FishbowlLA, December 2011 In early December 2011, Joseph Farrell — the founder of National Research Group (NRG) and the Hollywood marketing-research pioneer who substantially shaped modern test-screening practice — died from natural causes. His death was covered in the LA Times by…
-
Jonathan Gold’s April 2011 Olive Garden review — how the April Fools joke produced an actual LA Weekly piece
By Cassidy Lee · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Pandora Young on FishbowlLA, April 2011 In early April 2011, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold — then writing for the LA Weekly — found himself eating at the Arcadia Olive Garden after what had started as an April Fools joke on his photographer Anne…
-
The October 2011 John and Ken boycott — KFI, Clear Channel, and immigrant-rights advocacy
By Jordan Vega · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Marcus Vanderberg on FishbowlLA, October 2011 In early October 2011, an immigrant-rights coalition announced it was moving forward with a boycott of the John and Ken Show on KFI AM 640 after KFI management canceled a scheduled meeting between the coalition and station leadership. Greg…
-
Jim Ladd lands at SiriusXM Deep Tracks — December 2011, after the KLOS-and-KFI farewell
By Sasha Park · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Richard Horgan on FishbowlLA, December 2011 In early December 2011, longtime LA classic-rock DJ Jim Ladd — who had been unceremoniously dumped from KLOS 95.5 earlier in the year and then given a farewell show by KFI AM 640 — landed a nightly slot on…
-
Gustavo Arellano takes the OC Weekly editor-in-chief job — November 2011
By Maya Trent · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, November 2011 In late November 2011, Gustavo Arellano — the Ask A Mexican columnist who had been OC Weekly’s managing editor for the previous 18 months — was named the paper’s editor-in-chief. He took over from Ted Kissell, who had announced…
-
CPJ’s 2011 Impunity Index — Iraq, Mexico, and the documented unsolved-murders-of-journalists list
By Maya Trent · Republished 2026-05-16 · Originally reported by Matthew Fleischer on FishbowlLA, June 2011 In early June 2011, the Committee to Protect Journalists released its annual Impunity Index — the documented ranking of countries with the most unsolved murders of journalists. Iraq led with 92 unsolved cases; Mexico, the 8th-most-dangerous country, had 13…