Although we tend now to think of Los Angeles as a one or two newspaper city, during much of its history the city had numerous newspapers competing vigorously with one another. Many are now forgotten, but they often offer very useful historical material. See Early Newspapers in L.A. or Early Ethnic Newspapers in L.A. or Contemporary Ethnic Newspapers at USC if you are interested in these topics.Newspapers offer one of the greatest sources of information on the city, but unfortunately indexing is inadequate, and basically unavailable for the period prior to 1972 when the Los Angeles Times Index began.
In some cases of stories of national prominence, one can use the New York Times Index (1851-) to ascertain when an article might have appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
If you know the approximate date of an event, then you can go directly to the microfilm for that period of time and search until you find the item.
Sources of Newspaper Stories on Los Angeles
- Indexed clipping collection of Los Angeles Hearst newspapers
- Regional History Center
- Los Angeles Times Index, 1972-.
- Reference Center
- Los Angeles Times, 1882-.
- Current issues in the Periodicals Room (second floor of Doheny Library), back issues in Micrographics Department (ground floor of Doheny Library)
Earliest Newspapers in Los Angeles
For information about the first newspapers in the city, select Early Newspapers.
Newspaper Holdings at LAPL
The Los Angeles Newspaper List provides information about city newspapers held on microfilm by Los Angeles Public Library.
Other Newspapers in California
- San Francisco Newspapers Index, 1904-1949
- San Francisco Chronicle Index, 1950-1980