Writers Tricks of the Trade ISSUE 1, VOLUME 9 | Page 24

S POTLIGHT I NTERVIEW
H AL M ORRIS
Veteran newsman Hal Morris has experience in just about any department you
can name. He brings a wealth of knowledge to many fields.
WTT: Hal, how many years did you spend
with the Times Mirror Company?
HM: A long time. Two decades in total split
between the Los Angeles Times and The
Los Angeles Mirror. I actually started with
the Times when I was still a teenager going
to Los Angeles City College, and I got my
first bylines as a full time editorial staffer as
the campus correspondent.
WTT: You really are what is called a “vet-
eran newsman.” What other kinds of things
did you write about.
HM: You could say anything and every-
thing. I was even a frequent contributor to
S PRING 2019
The Times’ glossy Sunday Home Magazine,
writing mostly about plants and flowers.
WTT: And after working at The Times, you
moved to The Los Angeles Mirror?
HM: I did. In fact I was one of the first nine
editorial people hired when that newspa-
per began.
WTT: Competition for the “eyeballs” is
highly competitive, particularly since we
have evolved to multiple types of media
just about 24/7. How was it then?
HM: I’d say Los Angeles was a highly com-
petitive city for a newsman and a newspa-
per back then. There were five daily news-
papers. The Mirror utilized a “cruiser car”
P AGE 19
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE