Los Angeles Times - PLACE ORDER TODAY

The Los Angeles Times published its first edition in 1881 under the name of the Los Angeles Daily Times. The newspaper's two original founders soon ran out of money, and the fledgling paper was inherited by its printer, the Mirror Printing Office and Book Bindery. The Mirror Company promptly began searching for an editor who could help it recoup its losses. They hired former military officer Harrison Gray Otis, who took the job, invested in the paper and turned it into a financial success. Otis and a partner purchased the entire Times and Mirror properties in 1884 and incorporated them as the Times-Mirror Company. Two years later, Otis bought out his partner.

From the beginning, Gen. Otis was an unabashed supporter of Los Angeles. He believed in the city's future and promoted it with all the energy - and all the newsprint - at his disposal. Los Angeles became a boomtown, overflowing with Easterners and Midwesterners seeking the riches Otis' newspaper promised.

As the city grew, so did The Times. However, the competition among newspapers was fierce, and it was not until the mid-1940s that The Times became the No. 1 newspaper in Los Angeles.

The Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country. Average daily circulation for Thursday to Saturday is 1,001,610. For Monday to Wednesday, average daily circulation is 944,303. Sunday circulation is 1,369,066. (Six-month period ended Sept. 30, 2001, as filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations, subject to audit.)

The Time's editorial department is one of the most formidable in the world -- 23 foreign, 9 national and 5 California bureaus -- and the largest news-gathering operation in California. The Times' numerous journalism awards include 27 Pulitzer Prizes, four of which are Gold medals for public service.

The Times publishes four daily regional editions covering the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the San Fernando Valley, and Orange and Ventura counties. The Times' National Edition, launched in late 1998, is distributed outside this home market.

The weekday edition of the Times contains seven sections: Main News, California (formerly Metro), Business, Sports, Southern California Living, Calendar and Classifieds. On Sunday, these are expanded with Book Review, Sunday Calendar, Comics, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Opinion, Real Estate, Travel and TV Times.

The Times publishes four weekly sections: Health, Food, Highway 1 and Calendar Weekend.

The paper is published at three strategically located production facilities in Southern California: the Olympic plant in Los Angeles, the Orange County plant in Costa Mesa and the San Fernando Valley plant in Chatsworth.

In 2000, The Times became a Tribune Publishing Company when Times Mirror merged with Tribune Company.

 - PLACE ORDER TODAY