LA Weekly, a free "alternative" newspaper serving the Los Angeles area, made news itself last week following an unusual ownership change. The new owner, a private company known as Semanal LLC, declined to disclose the identity of its backers - prompting outcries from press freedom groups.
"It is an absolute outrage that the public doesn't know," said the Society of Professional Journalists in a press release. "No media outlet should hide who its owners are," the orgaization said. Meantime, the new owners fired most of LA Weekly's staff and asked for "unpaid contributors" to help provide content - spurring calls by some readers and former employees for a boycott. Courtesy The Wrap.