Who Speaks for Los Angeles?

The LA City Nerd brings up a good question: Is there a writer, author, journalist, blogger, broadcaster or other figure out there right now who is properly capturing the essence of Los Angeles, 2006?

The Nerd wonders where the modern-day version of legendary L.A. Times columnist Jack Smith might be found. (Smith died just six months before I moved here in 1996, so I never got a chance to read him myself. But I definitely know of his work.)

It's not just an L.A. phenom: When San Francisco lost Herb Caen, and Chicago lost Mike Royko and Irv Kupcinet, it's not like anyone else stepped up to fill those shoes. Sure, L.A. has Steve Lopez (just as Chicago has Eric Zorn and Richard Roeper) -- but while he serves an important function, he doesn't cover the entire spectrum of life in L.A.

Then who? Warren Olney? Patt Morrison? Sandra Tsing Loh? Huell Howser? (OK, not really.) The LA City Nerd asks:

Who can tell of Sweet Alice Harris in Watts and Professor Gomez-Quinones at UCLA? What about the Honorary Mayor of Griffith Park, Louis Alvarado and proponents of Equestrian lifestyle in Los Angeles? Sure, Dennis McCarthy will share the inspiring story of a person or group and Steve Lopez points us to the social responsibility of the City - but who captures the essence of the City for us?

In a mere 5 years, who can we look to for answers on what happened today? Not just in the mainstream media, but in the neighborhoods of West Adams or Mid-Wilshire or Beverlywood... or the communities of University Heights, Hermon, Garvanza, Del Rey, and Laurel Grove? What's up in Wilmington? Beyond politics, are we watching our city? We need to capture this city in text - because in 30 ears when the DVDs have morphed into a new form, and the tragic fire takes out this archive or that and the format of the machine that reads the transcripts from "old" websites shifts - we'll only have our books...I don't know the answer, but I know we need one.

Perhaps that's just too much to ask of one person. In this age of targeted and niche-oriented media, maybe it's unnecessary for one person to try and capture the feel of this huge metropolis. And given the ever-growing scope of this city maybe it's impossible.
(Image: From Yesterday L.A.)