LA Weekly: taking a turn to the right?

LA Weekly was, at one point, our reliably lefty alternative weekly here in southern California. It hasn't been for awhile. In this last election, I looked for an endorsement page but I didn't even see it. Here is the pathetic thing they offered instead, something called 'A Voter's Guide'.

So what's the deal? Here's something Gregory Rodriguez wrote in last Sunday's LA Times (note, I am not a Rodriguez fan by far, and know that I have numerous quibbles with his piece). But this is new to me.

The next year, the New Times Media chain of weekly papers, based in Phoenix, merged with Village Voice Media, which owned the L.A. Weekly, and began to remake the paper in its image. Known for its anti-PC irreverence and old-fashioned muckraking, the editorial leadership of New Times is now pushing the Weekly toward hard news and away from liberal advocacy. Two weeks ago, Stewart was hired to supervise local news coverage.

Jill Stewart has been the one I turn to get reliably strident conservative thinktank talking points in LA. I know she wrote for the Daily News, the great conservative paper in the Valley. Here's an archive of her columns in the SF Chronicle where you can quickly get a flavor of her views, union bashing and all.