It’s an outdated axiom of journalism that reporters shouldn’t make themselves a part of the story. However this previous week, all people in Los Angeles, reporters included, couldn’t assist however be a part of one of many greatest tragedies ever to unfold on this metropolis. Like tens of hundreds of our fellow Angelenos, many THR staffers had been pressured to evacuate — one, sadly, even misplaced his house — fleeing from the wildfires that started ripping by means of Los Angeles on Jan. 7, laying waste to total neighborhoods, from Malibu to Pasadena.
There’s a bitter irony right here. Simply two days earlier than the primary sparks ignited, THR, like the remainder of the city, was celebrating on the Golden Globes. It appeared like a uncommon turning level for the trade, which had simply began to get well from the pandemic, the strikes and manufacturing downturns — a festive second that regarded, for a short second, prefer it may be a harbinger of higher days to come back.
However by that Tuesday night, the exact same actors and personalities who’d been celebrating at The Beverly Hilton — like Demi Moore and Harrison Ford — had both misplaced their properties or had been despatched bolting from their neighborhoods as the primary fires engulfed the Palisades and Malibu. In fact, over the approaching days, it wouldn’t be simply film stars and studio executives who’d be devastated by the fires (opposite to the poisonous, schadenfreude-laced response from some on social media). For each mansion decimated in Carbon Seashore, dozens of properties in Altadena burned, many occupied by painters, costume designers and key grips — bizarre individuals who by no means make it onto TMZ.
As journalists, we’ve one nice comfort. Quite than watching helplessly as our metropolis goes up in flames, we’ve tried to channel our anguish and nervousness into our work, protecting the disaster in a means that hopefully helps our readers make some sense of the still-unfolding disaster, and even perhaps present a little bit of solace.
At the least that’s what we’ve tried to do with this particular version of The Hollywood Reporter. Over 5 days, we changed practically all of the content material that had been scheduled for the Jan. 17 challenge and started the arduous activity of tallying up what’s been misplaced to the fires — the long-lasting buildings, eating places, artwork collections, homes of worship and companies that make up the material of the town. We’re additionally preserving monitor of what’s been saved, the dear private objects that evacuees snatched from their properties on the final minute. And we’re paying shut consideration to what’s being realized from earlier disasters, looking for inspiration to assist information us by means of this one.
What is going to tomorrow appear to be? How lengthy will it take for a brand new Los Angeles to rise from the ashes? How will Hollywood — a metropolis constructed on creativeness — assist reconceive and reconstruct it? Till the smoke actually clears — the fires are nonetheless burning as we put this challenge to mattress — it’s too quickly to do something aside from grieve. However the coming weeks, months and years will supply an amazing alternative for reinvention, and THR might be alongside to cowl that journey each step of the best way.
Maer Roshan and Shirley Halperin
Co-Editors-in-Chief
