Front page of the Oct. 11, 1983 Los Angeles Herald Examiner that was printed on The Los Angeles Times' presses following major power outage. Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times Archive.
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It never gets tiresome to point out that in times of disaster (whether it's natural or man-made), the best attributes in journalists through fellowship, common decency, and benevolence, always seems to win out.
Such was the case on October, 1983, 31 years ago in southern California, when an explosion and fire at a utility substation knocked out power to two square miles of downtown Los Angeles, including the garment district, a hospital and two newspaper offices; while dozens of downtown building were without electricity, air conditioning and elevator service.
The L.A. Times photography blog, Framework http://goo.gl/e14GtJ , recently posted a collection of photos and a retelling of the fiery tragedy that struck southern California, describing how the Times' lent a helping hand to its fierce competitors, The Los Angeles Herald Examiner and city's largest Spanish language daily, La Opinion.
When Ray Willis, the Herald production manager, in a state of sheer panic, phoned Times’ Publisher Tom Johnson at home to ask if the Times’ could print the Herald’s Tuesday morning edition, a shocking response reached his ears.
Not only was Willis' request granted, but was told the Times would go the extra mile by swinging open its newsroom doors to its competition so they can use their computers to write, edit and lay out its pages.
Far from feeling uncomfortable in enemy territory, at least during normal circumstances, the Herald staffers were embraced with open arms by many of the Times staff; and as an added bonus were given a crash course in setting type in the Times’ new editing system.
According to the Times' employee publication, about 10 Times editors stayed on after their shifts to help Herald staffers put their publication to bed.
As The Herald rolled off The Times’ presses, on The Times paper and carrying the Times’ body and headline type- a banner across the front page screamed out: “Many thanks to the L.A. Times for publishing today’s Herald.”
Such a touching story in time of anguish only calls to mind the compassionate proverb: `` A friend in need is a friend indeed.''
-Bill Lucey
July 9, 2014
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