Veteran L.A. Reporter Greg Hernandez Transitions to Gaystarnews.com
Although Greg Hernandez (pictured) has logged many years as a reporter for the Daily News and L.A. Times, it was actually his personal blog Greg in Hollywood that led to his latest full-time gig. Since early December, he has been working out of his home office in Silver Lake as the Los Angeles correspondent for London-based website gaystarnews.com.
Hernandez, who posts an average of five stories per weekday, says a recent talk show host controversy sparked some of his biggest personal traffic stats so far. “That business about One Million Moms wanting JC Penney to fire Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson because she is gay was huge,” he tells FishbowlLA. “Another big story for me involved Howard Stern’s passionate defense of Ellen and his tirade against some of the more socially conservative presidential candidates.”
On the gaystarnews.com website, there is an impressive listing of the principles anchoring the outlet’s “commitment to ethical, quality journalism.” Hernandez works via email and Skype with not just his editors in London but also some of the site’s other far-flung correspondents.
“I communicate with the Shanghai reporter at the end of my 9-to-5 shift as she is beginning hers,” Hernandez explains. “I was, for example, monitoring a vote being taken in the Washington legislature on a same-sex marriage bill and it was getting late PST. Our Shanghai reporter, Anna Leach, offered to take the baton from me and she ended up doing the story after the vote was complete.”
After many years in LA newsrooms, including a brief stint last year with the Los Angeles Business Journal, working from home is a big professional change for Hernandez. But he says he’s enjoying it so far.
“I was at The Daily News more than eight years and the L.A. Times for 11 years, so you miss being around all those bright minds and that energy all day. But I’ve got big windows and a nice view at home, and it’s quiet. The day goes by fast. If I get cabin fever, I’ll just walk over to Café Tropical on Sunset and spend a few hours there. The WiFi is free, the coffee strong, and the guava empanadas superb.”
“What’s unique for me about Gay Star News is the 24-7 international focus,” Hernandez reveals. “We have more stories dealing with Australia and Russia, for example, than I see elsewhere. There is a wide variety. I seem to be doing a lot of politics because of all the gay marriage developments in the various states and I do a lot of entertainment stories as well.”
Previously on FishbowlLA:
Greg Hernandez Bolts from L.A. Business Journal
