Wall extensions at the Daily Journal*, **

The Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal is a model for niche trade publications that want to make money off subscriptions. The legal newspapers is profitable and has a captive audience of judges, lawyers, lobbyists and politicians who want and need to follow the legal industry and its players. A subscription costs a bit more than $700 a year, and the owners have little if any interest in letting cracks appear in the pay wall.

Indeed, as LA Observed learned today, in a memo from Daily Journal editor David Houston, the paper is re-enforcing its walls to make content even more exclusive. From the memo:

I hope you have had a chance to check out our updated website. We're still ironing out kinks so let me know if you see anything funky.

Subscribers are no longer able to email a story. We are also no longer sending out a daily headlines email. If you get calls about this refer them to me.

As a former writer at the Daily Journal and now a producer at a public radio show that often turns to reporters as guests, I can attest to the fact that the pay wall keeps a lot of good work out of the general public's eye. Whether these strict policies are needed to keep the paper in the black, I cannot say, but I've always wondered why the paper doesn't offer a summary of articles to ensure its good work gets noticed.

*The redesigned website seems to emphasize profiles, with news updates on the right (with news about subscriptions leading today's stories). Here's a screen grab:

**Noted: The screen grab shows the website as non-subscribers see it. Only those paying the money can see the layout that includes actual headlines and article summaries. I'm told they continue to get prominent play inside the walls.

Comings and goings: Hurley goes Greenwire, Iafolla back to DJ*

Today is Lawrence Hurley's final day as U.S. Supreme Court reporter for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Hurley starts Monday as a legal affairs writer for the online trade publication Greenwire, which focuses on energy and the environment.

Robert Iafolla, who previously covered Congress for the Daily Journal, until the position was eliminated, will take over the Supreme Court beat. In between DJ gigs, Iafolla wrote a column for the online journal True/Slant, which got gobbled up by Forbes a few months ago.

For those who wonder, Greenwire is is operated by Environment and Energy Publishing. EEP bought the trade pub from the National Journal in 2000 and has continued to expand original reporting on the site.

*Update: Hurley's goodbye email to the DJ troops:

Today is my last day at the Daily Journal after five years in the Washington bureau. They say a week is a long time in politics, so five years is a Washington lifetime. I've been in D.C. so long, I can remember when Republicans were to blame for everything. I am grateful to the DJ for giving me the opportunity to cover important issues in a serious way. Highlights include five Supreme Court nominations (don't forget Harriet Miers!), the U.S. attorney firing scandal and, in my Supreme Court years, the Citizens United case and its aftermath.

Although I'm leaving the DJ, I'm not leaving legal journalism. On Monday, I start a new legal beat at Greenwire here in Washington, focusing on energy & environment issues. I'll still be covering some Supreme Court cases, but will also be dipping into other courts. I'm looking forward to it.

Nix leaving the Breeze

Daily Breeze reporter Denise Nix is leaving the paper to work for the child-advocacy group First 5 LA. Nix covered the courts for the South Bay newspaper and won this year's distinguished journalist award from the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to the Breeze, Nix worked for the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the Associated Press.

Here's part of the goodbye memo from city editor Frank Suraci:

Denise's award this year from SPJ capped off a stellar career here at the Breeze. Not only has she done a yeoman's job tracking all our court cases and handling the day-to-day grind, but Denise has covered some major cases for us over the years as well as helped initiate our popular Crime+Courts blog with Larry [Altman].

We'll miss her hard work and dedication but wish her all the best in her new venture.

Comings and goings

Pasadena Star-News reporter Emma Gallegos is leaving the paper for a job at the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Her final day is Monday.

Four today

1. California Watch, run by the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, has hired three new reporters: former Los Angeles Daily Journal and LA Times reporter Joanna Lin; Pulitzer Prize-winner Ryan Gabrielson, and reporter Susanne Rust. LA Observed

2. The San Diego Union-Tribune appears to be contemplating more newsroom cuts. fishbowlLA

3. Blogger Danny Sullivan accuses the "mainstream media" of doing what he claims the mainstream media accuses bloggers of doing: taking a scoop without giving due credit. Daggle

4. The San Diego News Network, bolstered by big donations and rosy talk, has followed its cousin, the Orange County News Network, into oblivion. All writers and freelancers were fired as of June 1. San Diego Reader

Daily Journal loses editors to fellowships

Having each been awarded prestigious journalism fellowships, Los Angeles Daily Journal editors Christian Berthelsen and Evelyn Larrubia will be leaving the paper temporarily - possibly permanently. Kevin Roderick at LA Observerd has the various memos here.

Managed inspiration

Los Angeles Daily Journal Editor David Houston has once again admonished his editorial staff about showing up late to work. LA Observed has his latest memo telling reporters to get to work no later than 9 a.m. and then to email their editors with a summary of whatever they're working on by 9:15:

This daily email is not an option and your failure to send an email on time, or at all, is being noted.

In my experience, reporters react poorly to these sorts of arbitrary guidelines. But Houston says the reason he wants the early email updates - rather than have reporters walk over to their editors and talk in person - is to "spur deeper reporting."

I gave the email program two weeks when LAO first wrote of the morning deadlines. Shall we go for a month?

Political list makers

The Capitol Weekly newspapers in Sacramento has listed the bottom half of the top 100 most influential people in California politics. At number 90, Charles Munger of Berkshire Hathaway. Here's the entry:

Perhaps nobody is causing more heartache for Speaker Nancy Pelosi than Charles Munger. The Stanford scientist and son of the Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway has made it his mission to take drawing Congressional districts out of the hands of the Legislature. He has dedicated millions to qualifying a measure for the November ballot to do just that. Congressional Democrats, fearing their incumbency threatened, have responded in kind with millions of their own.

Munger is also an owner of the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal, the state's leading legal newspaper (and a former employer of mine).

L.A. developer and mayoral aspirant Rick Caruso makes the list at number 57.

Another Daily Journal memo

The California Real Estate Journal, a sister publication of the Los Angeles Daily Journal, is folding, according to a memo obtained by LA Observed. The editor of the shuttered trade paper, Michael Gottlieb, will take a job as associate editor at the Daily Journal and several CREJ reporters might follow.

The memo, written by DJ editor David Houston, has some other news as well. First, DJ reporter Evan George won a national award for his health care coverage. Second, Houston praises the DJ as the future of newspapers and recommends reporters read the Wall Street Journal and beat-related blogs.

Finally, Houston admonishes reporters to get into the office by 9 a.m. and to email to their assignment editors by 9:15 a.m. with an update on what the reporter is working on that day. I'd guess the email plan will last a week. Maybe two.

The internet safety net

Bobby Iafolla, who plans to leave the Los Angeles Daily Journal after the paper announced it would cut one of its two DC reporter positions, has turned up as a contributor to the news website True/Slant.

(Corrected to reflect that Iafolla has not yet left his job with the DJ)

Four in the morning

1. Meg Whitman wants media attention, but not media questions. Chronicle

2. Bonuses for Orange County Register employees. LAO

3. The new editor of the Pasadena Star-News says he's back in the USSR. Star-News

4. The Los Angeles Daily Journal eliminates one of two D.C. reporter positions, prompting reporter Robert Iafolla to quit, and adds a labor and employment beat to the legal paper. LAO

Comings and goings

*Downtown News reporter Anna Scott has taken a job with the Los Angeles Daily Journal. She's set to start there March 1.

*Frank Girardot, metro editor for the three-paper San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group, will take over as editor of the Pasadena Star-News. Here's part of the memo:

This is a homecoming for Frank. He worked at the Star-News for many years in the 1990s, so he knows the community well. He's just the man we need in Pasadena to be the public face of the Star-News and ensure the community regards the Star-News as its indispensable source of local news. City Editor Hector Gonzalez and the entire editorial staff of the Star-News will report to Frank.

*San Gabriel Valley Tribune reporter Rebecca Kimitch was promoted to political editor for the paper.

*Pasadena Star-News reporter Alfred Lee has accepted a job with the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Daily Journal is a "buy"

The stock pickers at TheStreet.com - a financial news site started by Jim Cramer - recommend its readers buy stock in the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Here's the skinny:

The big risks for this company aren't in its business, but its stock. Daily Journal has a float around 1.4 million shares and daily trading volume under 1,000. That means the stock is extremely illiquid. But its price tag is attractive. The shares are significantly cheaper than those of media peers based on trailing earnings, projected earnings, book value and sales. This is a true under-the-radar pick as Daily Journal is an unknown on Wall Street. We rate Daily Journal "buy."

Is this another sign that "niche" publications are the future? Maybe.

The legal journal does have a stable subscription base is able to charge high subscription rates because of its strong journalism and specialized content. The paper also saw a surge legal ads from a surge in foreclosure notices. Of course, the trade off is that the content is off limits to most readers because of the steep pay walls.

Liveblogging at the Daily Journal

As the Senate hearings for Supreme Court-nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor get underway Monday, Los Angeles Daily Journal reporter Lawrence Hurley will be in the hearing room liveblogging from start to finish. This might be a first for the legal newspaper. The blog updates will remain behind DJ's paywall, however.

On the move

Mindy Farabee has announced she's leaving the Los Angeles Daily Journal and heading to sunny Scotland to study creative writing. FishbowlLA has the news here.

Mozilo charged with civil fraud

As was anticipated for months, the SEC today charged Angelo Mozilo, former CEO of the mortgage giant Countrywide, with civil fraud. The charges will play out as a civil lawsuit again Mozilo and two other former executives at the company. Details of the case should become clearer after SEC officials hold a press conference today.

From Gina Keating at Reuters:

The case against Mozilo, long one of the most prominent officials in the U.S. mortgage lending industry, constitutes the highest-profile civil case stemming from the U.S. housing collapse.

Mozilo co-founded Countrywide in 1969 and publicly expressed strong confidence in its prospects and survival even as problems began to mount. Bank of America Corp bought the company for $2.5 billion last July 1.

Keating also reports that federal prosecutors are still trying to develop a criminal case against Mozilo.

*Mozilo also made Time magazine's list of 25 people most to blame for the financial crisis.

Daily Journal columnist leaves*

Former Los Angeles Daily Journal editor-turned-columnist Martin Berg has left the legal newspaper for reasons unknown, according to LA Observed. Berg was pushed out of the editor's chair back in December and was replaced by David Houston.

*Update: It's still not clear to me whether Berg quit or got himself fired. I'm told his column was canceled last week and that he was assigned a reporting beat - bankruptcy and antitrust or some such. On Monday, his name was scrubbed from the masthead. Yesterday, he cleaned out his desk.

Four in the morning

1. The LA Press Club announced award finalists today. If you're the LA Weekly, KPCC or your name is Amy Alkon, chances are you're going to walk away with a plaque. Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post, Robyn Dixon of the Los Angeles Times and Rick Orlov of the Daily News will receive special awards. LAPC

2. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Lakewood, had a baby. LAT

3. "No one manipulates the press like David Geffen," writes Mark Lacter at LA Biz Observed. *New York Post story calls talks between Geffen and the New York Times "guff".

4. Evan George of the Los Angeles Daily Journal dug through public records and found that a state program set up to reimburse patients who were wrongly dumped by their private health insurers has been largely ineffective. The story is behind a paywall, but here's an excerpt:

A year after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration unveiled a series of landmark legal settlements intended to relieve thousands of Californians who had their health insurance revoked, only a fraction of patients have taken part in the program, and just four are known to have received any kind of payment from their insurer, a Daily Journal investigation has found.

Overall, just 5 percent of patients wanted or were aware of the state's plan and took part in it, records show. Many of those who lost their insurance racked up crippling debt for medical costs when their policies were rescinded.

-snip-

A Department of Managed Health Care spokeswoman defended the program this month, saying it had won new health coverage for 177 Californians who otherwise would have stayed uninsured. "We were able to provide that for them in a quick way where they wouldn't have to go through a lengthy court battle," spokeswoman Lynne Randolph said.

Asked why medical bills have not been addressed, Randolph blamed the delay on private lawyers and the Los Angeles city attorney, whose ongoing lawsuits have interfered with the state's settlement notices.

Civil charges likely for Mozilo

The Wall Street Journal confirms today that Securities and Exchange Commission staff will recommend civil fraud charges be filed against Angelo Mozilo, co-founder of Countrywide Financial Corp., for actions related to the company subprime lending practices.

Gabe Friedman of the Los Angeles Daily Journal first reported back in March that SEC staff was pursuing civil charges against Mozilo and at least two other company executives.

Four in the afternoon

1. Mailer wars in the 32nd Congressional District race - Sen. Gil Cedillo's camp takes a cut-and-paste approach. LAT

2. The Los Angeles Daily News laid off Dodgers beat writer Tony Jackson. LAO

3. Washington Times columnist and sometimes Drudge Report editor Andrew Breitbart spoke at an anti-tax rally in front of Pasadena City Hall and said this about how America treats dissenters: "Just like in Cuba, like in Venezuela, those that dissent are marginalized at best, and jailed or killed or worse." PSN

4. Charlie Munger, who has a big stake in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, had this to say about the state of the newspaper industry: "It’s really a national tragedy. As they disappear - I think what replaces them won’t be as desirable as what we’re losing." His partner, Warren Buffett, said he wouldn't buy another newspaper "at any price." PaidContent