Our Impact: Building A Stronger Los Angeles Together
At The LA Local, we measure our success with community – by covering stories that matter, strengthening civic engagement, connecting residents to each other and lifting up the people that make LA unique. We’re proud to be a part of a growing movement focused on bringing Angelenos together and making the place we love stronger.
We believe in journalism that serves and strengthens communities. Some recent ways our collective reporting has led to real change for Angelenos:
Boyle Heights was left without polls. After organizers pushed back, 2,100 voted in person
For many residents, the pop-up sites offered their first chance to vote close to home during the Nov. 4 special election.
A guide to free or low-cost mental health resources for communities impacted by ICE raids
After recent immigration enforcement operations have left communities grappling with fear and uncertainty, Boyle Heights Beat conducted a community survey to better understand what residents needed most right now. The message was clear: mental health support. To meet that need, Boyle Heights Beat, as part of the Los Angeles Local News Initiative, hosted a special…
LA Phil reinstates East LA Youth Orchestra after community uproar
The news comes just days after the organization informed parents and students that programming at YOLA’s Torres site would be reduced.
Community-Centered Reporting
We report with and for communities. We believe the best stories begin with listening. Our reporters build lasting relationships in the neighborhoods they cover, ensuring our award-winning journalism is rooted in the real needs, interests and concerns of Angelenos.
700K
People in our coverage areas
24
Media and university partners
27
Journalists added to LA
Current top stories
His ICE detention shattered their plans to build a life in LA. Now they’re starting over in Guatemala.
Longtime LA resident Oscar Polanco was newly married and working to get legal status when he was detained and taken to Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
No mayor, no city council and a call for better representation? Here’s what it means to be unincorporated
East LA is the most populous unincorporated community in the state. Here’s what that means and how it affects its nearly 119,000 residents.
10 things LA’s official budget watchdog thinks you need to know about how the city spends your tax dollars
LA’s City Controller Kenneth Mejia on how billions in city spending — and oversight gaps — directly affect your neighborhood.
Have VHS tapes, records or memories of Self Help Graphics? Share them for a new documentary
Filmmakers aim to showcase the legacy of Self Help from its roots in East LA to its ‘role as an international force.’
Neighborhood Coverage
LA Documenters
Holding power accountable, one meeting at a time.
Our Documenters program trains and pays community members to cover local government meetings. The result? More informed and engaged residents, building community power:
- Documentation of Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council meetings resulted in unspent community funds being distributed to residents.
- Responded to community crises: Organized distribution of ‘Know Your Rights’ flyers during ICE enforcement across the region and identifying other opportunities to engage Documenters in The LA Local’s community engagement efforts.
- Univision LA featured the program’s collaboration with Boyle Heights Beat and its consistent coverage of LAPD community meetings.
- Documenters regularly originate news coverage, powering stories in our own newsroom and across the region, including recent reporting in LAist and the LA Sentinel. Their work has informed coverage on key local issues across the city, demonstrating how resident-generated civic reporting strengthens Los Angeles’s entire news ecosystem.
100+
Residents have signed up to be an LA Documenter.
75
LA City and LA County meetings covered.
Youth Journalism Program
A pathway to college, careers, and community leadership.
For 15 years, Boyle Heights Beat has demonstrated what’s possible when young people lead the storytelling of their own communities. Today, that legacy has expanded across Los Angeles through The LA Local. We operate three cohorts in Boyle Heights; Koreatown, Pico-Union, and Westlake; and South LA and Inglewood. Students produce powerful journalism rooted in their neighborhoods, and alumni often describe the program as foundational to their confidence, their voice, and their civic engagement.
300+
Alumni spanning 15 years, many of whom have pursued journalism as a career.
1000+
Stories published by youth journalists since program began.
100%
Class of 2025 admitted into a 4-year university.
Community Engagement
At The LA Local, community engagement is at the heart of the editorial process. We don’t just cover our neighborhoods, we connect them. We start by listening, building real relationships and letting residents guide what we provide.
Separate from resident engagement, we’ve met with community leaders at over 100 community organizations, including key organizations that have been supporting our work like Community Coalition, Brotherhood Crusade, the Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC) and others.
In the past two years, we held and listened to:
33
Community engagement events
1,302
Resident input points
Community testimonials
Being able to write and serve my community is truly a gift. I sincerely believe that organizing, writing, documenting and note-taking can start a revolution of community wellness and change.
-Jaimé Korima Rodriguez, LA Documenter
Boyle Heights Beat gave me more than skills- it gave me a voice. I learned to listen deeply, ask the right questions, and write stories with my community in depth and dignity. Today, I’m a DOJ Accredited Representative for the LA LGBTQ Center, where I practice immigration law as a non-attorney, fighting for vulnerable community members. BHB is training journalists who will be leaders in this community. I’m proof of what BHB can do.
-Ricardo Diaz, 2012 BHB Alum
Ways to get involved
Donate
Support our nonprofit newsroom and help us build a more connected and informed Los Angeles.
Sponsor or advertise
Reach an engaged local audience while investing in the future of community-centered LA news.
Become a mentor
Guide the next generation of storytellers by sharing your skills and experience with our student journalists.
Become an LA Documenter
Get paid to keep your community informed by attending and holding accountable local public meetings.
Apply to the Student Journalism Program
Join other high school students in our after-school and summer education programs.
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