DEPARTURES -- L.A. STYLE

FOR those of you digging deep into the city proper, trying to get at its elusive heart, local public television station, KCET has been putting together a series of online projects that feature the City of Angels in hyper-local closeup. From the slip of water sliding through a concrete bed we call the L.A. River and the personal stories we find laced along freeway over-passes, pylons and garages via street art to Venice's skateparks and Chinatown's historic treasures, the project, "Departures," attempts to tell the story of L.A.'s diverse and disparate communities -- from the the point of view of the people who live, work, organize, raise-children, plant gardens and plan to "never leave here"; boosters in their own vivid, idiosyncratic way:

Juan Devis, Departures' director of production and program management, recently visited LMU's campus as part of the English Department's LAy of the LAnd conference, sitting in on a panel on new media, blogging and the city as subject. Devis discussed the challenges of covering a city as diverse and constantly-changing as Los Angeles. He also said that the Departure's crew is looking for volunteers to help cross the expanse of the city -- to seek-out, interview, research and gather information about the nooks and crannies of the city that get left out in the larger telling of the city's story. For journalists working in L.A. over many decades, this has been one of more frustrating aspects of mainstream media -- a tunnel-vision style of reportage that doesn't fully educate the reader/viewer about the complexity of Los Angeles , rather confirms the stereotypes that often continue to float by as truths.

Check out their site here to see the range of subjects and communities that the project has already explored. If you'd like to lend a hand as a volunteer you can contact Devis via the site or come speak to me for details.

-- L.G.